Deeds and their Consequences
by LelliieTheSnake
Summary: Well I wasn't planning on adventuring into other fandoms but here I am. Loki has to repay for his crimes-post The Avengers by being nice, but struggles somewhat to adapt. Eventual FrostIron
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

"We have come to a decision on your punishment." Odin stared down at his adoptive son, no regret or hurt in his hard voice. "You have committed crimes of a most terrible nature to try and assert power over those you believed to be weaker. It is a most shameful path you have followed, Loki, and such deserves a punishment of a similar magnitude. I know you do not fear pain or death, instead it is your pride that shall suffer."

Loki continued to kneel, staring at the ground in front of him, not moving. In all honesty he was surprised that Odin had chosen a non-straightforward punishment for him. Not that he'd have been able to voice this anyway, the thick gag around his mouth not having moved since it was first placed upon him.

"I shall strip your of your powers and reduce you to the level of the Midgardians you so despise. You have been called upon by their lords to answer for your crimes in Midgard itself, and so you shall be handed over to face their punishments."

Loki looked up at this point, wondering why Odin was shunning torturous punishment only to hand him over to other that would surely do the opposite. Odin must have read it in his gaze.

"Do not think that you will suffer a straightforward punishment at their hands. As I hear, they have big plans for you." Odin smiled. "Alas you will not travel alone. Thor has agreed to go to the aid of his allies in Midgard whilst he oversees your progress."

Odin stepped down in front of Loki and held a hand out over his head. "I hereby remove your power, Loki Odinson, until you have found enough kindness in your heart to the worthy of it again." He placed his hand down onto his adoptive son's head and for Loki, everything went black.

* * *

"I don't like it. I don't see why the bastard has to live with us, after all he did." Clint perched suspiciously on the edge of the sofa, before him the Avengers sat around discussing.

"It's because of all he did that he is living with us, it's an attempt to get him to work with us." Natasha explained.

"That doesn't mean I have to like him Nat."

"Simply give my brother time," Thor announced. "He will find it in his heart to repent for what he has done, though it may take time."

"You know goldilocks I never saw your brother as the repenting type." Tony said, spread lazily across the sofa.

"You don't think him able to change?" Thor demanded.

"I know exactly where Tony is coming from Thor, he's a master of trickery, Loki could do anything and we'd never know if it was sincere or not," Clint argues, "Which is again why I think it's stupid that he's here living with us."

"It might be good to use this as an opportunity to observe him." Bruce inserted gently. "He hasn't got his powers but I'd be fascinated to see how his personality adapts to living here after so many years in Asgard."

"You know I may not be the best therapist in the world but I think the less observing and the more leaving him alone we do the more likely he is to actually adapt. People don't like being experimented on unless it's by themselves." Tony added.

"What as astute observation Mr Stark." All the heads in the room whipped round as Loki came through the door. He didn't come far into the room however, just leaning up against the wall. He was still in Asgardian armour and he looked incredibly tired. His hair looked greasy and in need of a good wash, there was dark circles under his eyes and he was unnaturally pale, save for the red lines still crossing his face from the imprint of the gag he'd been wearing for so long.

"Brother!" Thor shouted, moving to pull Loki into the centre of the room, "You are awake! How do you like your new chambers?"

Loki stepped back to avoid his grip and eyed the room warily. "I have been awake for some time, however I do not wish for company. I simply left because I received a message from your Director telling me to meet him here."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "And you came willingly?"

"I wish to find out what my punishment will be and get it over with." Loki replied.

"Wait, you don't know?" Clint spluttered.

"No, Agent Barton, he does not." Fury came striding into the room through the opposite door, staring straight at Loki.

"Well hello there Loki, how nice of you to join us." He smiled, and Loki smiled back, through his cracked voice failed to completely translate the air of cool menace he intended.

"Nice to see you too."

Fury smirked again. "Loki I'll make this short. I am assured that you have been stripped of your powers and as such, we are free to do with you as we please. Now, I'm all for the death penalty, but I think you need a bigger lesson than that, think morality tales. Loki, I'm making you live in the centre of the city you destroyed, amongst the people you tried to kill, as an equal to them, and you will be called to defend the human population along with the rest of this room. More than that, you will be required to get an ordinary, everyday job working for the good of mankind. I'll leave it up to you to decide what that may be." He stopped and waited for a reaction.

Loki's calm demeanour tensed the more Fury talked and he radiated suspicion. "Is that it? Is that all I am required to do?"

"Yes it is. You will live here in Stark Tower, I'm sure the people in this room are just as capable of teaching you to be an everyday New Yorker as they are kicking your ass."

"So what other conditions are there, and what happens if I fail to comply?" Loki asked.

"None, and nothing." Fury smiled again. "Goodbye everyone." He walked out. Loki slumped back against the wall, panicking that there must be a catch, there must be something horrific and painful for him to be put through.

"Brother," Thor stepped forwards, everyone's eyes upon him, "You have been given a chance to make peace with those whom you have wronged and to repay back your bad deeds. Until you have fully done that your power will not return."

Loki realised the extent to which his character would have to change to get his magic back, the core upon which his strength was built. Without his magic he was nothing. His eyes narrowed and his voice was full of venom. "You may be waiting a while then." He turned and walked back out towards his bedroom, leaving silence behind.

Tony smiled. "I like him!"

For the first time, Steve spoke up. "It will be difficult to get him to change long term, but I think we can do it. In the meantime, how do we get him to become a resident of New York?"

Tony smiled. "I know where to start." He pulled out his phone. "Pepper, you're a pretty good stylist, right?"

* * *

Loki closed the door behind him and went to sit on his new bed. It was big and luxurious, just like the rest of Stark's tower, however being in a room decorated in pastel coloured silks did make him somewhat uncomfortable. He closed his eyes to blank out the nauseating lilac walls and lay back on the bed, thinking.

This was not by any means the punishment he had been expecting, though now he thought about it it was a rather clever one. Loki knew what everyone wanted him to do, to become, but he honestly didn't know if he was capable of it. He had been asked to try and make rights with those he had wronged, but what about those that had wronged him? The bitter unfairness of it washed over him, and he lay there miserably for hours.

* * *

The sky was starting to darken outside when a soft knock was heard on Loki's door. He ignored it but after two repeats the door opened anyway, revealing Pepper Potts standing with a tray of food in one hand and a large collection of shopping bags in the other.

"Though you are welcome to we thought it unlikely that you'd join everyone at dinner," she announced, ignoring Loki's glare from the bed and going to place the tray of food on his desk and the bags on the floor beside it. "Also you can't spend your life in that outfit. Go take a shower and have a root through these bags, there's a large assortment of clothing, you'll find something you like."

Loki eyed her suspiciously again. "Is this an attempt to integrate me?"

"Yes," she smiled "They thought it best that someone without superpowers who didn't have a direct hand in beating you came to try and talk you into socialising." Loki's mouth twisted into a grimace at that.

She went to walk out again but paused by the door. "As part of Fury's team bonding sessions there will be a movie on in the main living room tonight. You are welcome to join us." She turned and left.

After a while curiosity and famine overcame Loki and he went to eat. The Midgardian food was strange, but delicious. He then went and rummaged through the bags, pulling out odd combinations of items. For the first time since arriving on Earth, he smiled sincerely. The woman had good taste, these clothes would do nicely…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **- See I CAN update two fics in two days. Though I never tend to update regularly be aware I am always working on something. I'll try and update this a bit sooner next time, I promise.

* * *

The cheesy romcom the Avengers were watching was roughly halfway through when Loki slipped into the room, silent and unnoticed. He stood at the back of the room, leaning up against the wall as he had done earlier on in the day. The movie really was very dull and tedious and so he took it as an opportunity to watch those in the room with him. Tony was sprawled out on one sofa, taking two thirds of it up by himself, completely ignoring the film and typing on one of his many handheld devices. Clint and Natasha were curled up next to each other on the next sofa, watching the movie silently, with Pepper perched on the other end, also typing on her phone. Thor sat on an armchair, laughing heartily at the bad jokes and tearing up at the cliché moments and on the last sofa were Steve and Bruce, sitting quietly and contently.

It was weird for Loki to stand so close to those whom he had the intention to kill not long ago and who undoubtedly disliked him back. Since his banishment Thor had been ridiculously eager to give people moral lessons like the ones he had learned, and so it was understandable that he was encouraging Loki to be open-minded. The similarities between his and Thor's punishments struck Loki and bitterness flooded his stomach as he realised how Odin had presumed he would follow in Thor's footsteps when it came to suddenly gaining a sense of nobility. Yet again the Allfather seems to think he will follow the same path as the beloved blonde haired golden child of Asgard. As well as this, to give Loki the same punishment Odin must have thought Loki incapable of seeing the change in Thor; to think his intellect low enough to not notice the lesson that Thor had learnt. The sense of inferiority burned through him again as he looked across the room at the Golden Child of Asgard himself.

Thor, the same as everyone else, was completely oblivious to Loki's presence. He stared at the over-sized screen with honest emotion on his face, no pressures to weigh down his consciousness. Loki stared at his open face and hated it, there were no troubles weighing down his mind, no blame cast upon his acts. Looking across Loki's eyes settled on Steve Rogers, the epitome of righteousness and duty. The man was calmly and contently sitting and watching the film. How easy must it be to simply follow what people deemed to be "good"? Loki wondered if the man had any original thoughts at all, or if he just lived to people's expectations. Next to him was the mellow looking Bruce Banner. Loki's eyes narrowed at the memory of being smashed into the floor, echoes of the pain seeping through his memory. He was a God, at least beforehand, and the shame at a mortal finding that much physical power over him filled him with spite.

He looked round to the next sofa, venom seeping through into his observations. Pepper was sitting on the next sofa still looking ridiculously neat and organised for someone casually watching a film. She had been sickeningly sweet in asking him to join them earlier in the night, if she was going to baby him with meals and clothes like this from now he may have to find a way to get rid of her. Permanently. Next to Pepper was Natasha and Clint, silent as ever. Clint had ceased to bear any sings of his capture under Loki, and seemed to be taking having the one who'd mind controlled him in the house pretty well. Loki smirked, his anger twisting into mischief, how long would it take to drive him mad again?

On the last sofa sprawled in his usual arrogant manner was Tony Stark, working away on one if his many portable screens. Loki was somewhat amused by his constant attachment to technology, much of which could easily be overridden by simple magic. (If he had it - he thought bitterly). However, there was part of him that did admire the time Stark had dedicated to his craft, it reminded him of the time he had spent honing his magic for weeks at a time back in Asgard. There was somewhat of a mirror between the two of them in that regard, he realised. On the sofa Tony yawned loudly and shuffled around noisily, attracting glares from the rest of the room. Well, thought Loki, maybe only in that one respect were they the same. He stood straight and edged out, leaving the Avengers to their film in peace.

* * *

The next day Loki did not emerge from his room at all. By mid-afternoon Thor and Steve started to seem worried, though they knew he hadn't found a way to escape - JARVIS informed Tony he was still in the room. Pepper assured them that he should just be left alone, saying that from experience with Tony she knows there's no way of getting someone to emerge from their bedroom/science lab unless they really want to, and if they tried to baby him he'd dig his heels in further. Despite this Thor still tried to go and speak to his adopted brother, knocking on the door and receiving a curt "Leave me be!" and then being resolutely ignored after that.

Clint expressed quite openly that Loki was welcome to stay in his room for as long as he wants, especially if he ended up starving himself to death. Natasha just rolled her eyes and that and didn't comment. Everyone else just got on with their daily lives as if the fallen god wasn't there.

By around 11 in the evening however Loki found that his body devoid of magic was far less able to sustain itself. Pepper had brought no more food to him and so the need for energy eventually drove him out of his room.

It didn't take long for him to navigate the interior of Tony Stark's supposed "house". The top third of the skyscraper were supposed living quarters, yet everyone was positioned bizarrely close together within the tower, he realised. All the bedrooms but Tony's were spread over only two floors, and they shared one main communal living room and kitchen. Oddly intimate for a bunch of people widely known as unsociable.

Loki reached the kitchen and riffled through the fridge and cupboards. For someone who never seemed to cook, Tony Stark really did have a wonderful array of ingredients in his kitchen. Loki smiled and pulled down various items from the cupboards.

Tony Stark himself was walking through the building a while later, when he was distracted by the smell of food wafting from the kitchen. He stopped and turned to walk there, in the hope of getting a helping of whatever was cooking, because wow that smell was good. He was incredibly surprised however to turn the corner and find their very own resident black haired mischief-maker sitting at the bar in the middle of the room, humming to himself as he absent-mindedly twirled spaghetti onto his fork.

"Well, I did wonder about what god's ate. So ordinary, are you sure you don't want something sacrificed to go with that?"

Loki glared as Tony walked in, going tense and alert and glaring. Tony noticed he'd ditched the armour for a dark green shirt, rolled up to the elbows. It looked good. Too good. He'd have to have words with Pepper.

"Wow, no need to go cold on me, just wanted to sample your cooking. That green stuff looks interesting, is that sage?"

"I cook for myself, Stark. You are sadly mistaken if you believe me ready to stare seasoning tips." The cool glare remained, but Loki started to twirl more pasta into his mouth.

"Well then," Tony paused, "Are you ready to get a job? Redeem yourself, all that crap?"

Loki just looked at him.

"What, is it such an alien question? You can't sit and sulk in that bedroom forever."

"I can try."

"Waste of time. And you won't be getting anything done that way." Tony smirked. "Try leaving a little more often. You can't be enjoying yourself in there, unless you really like the look of lilac walls."

"Do not even mention the lilac walls, they are nauseating."

"You want them changed? I can do that. But seriously you must be really bored, what did you do with your time back on Asgard?"

"I plotted how to overthrow my golden child brother." Loki said with a completely straight face.

"Well… anything else? What else does a god do with their time?"

"Many things which you would not understand. Reading, educating myself in the ways of magic."

"You know we have books here."

"Your books, huh. Inferior science and the fantasised idealised worlds of authors clamouring to fill their empty lives."

"Oh so you have done some reading here then?" Tony smirked. "Seriously if you want something to do just ask. I mean for god's sake at least give Thor something to do to help you he's going to injure himself being this over-eager."

"Perhaps I shall see how much I can injure him." Loki finished and went to dump his empty bowl in the sink. Tony considered a retort but ended up momentarily wordless watching him wash up instead.

"Well that's… oddly domestic. It took a while to get Thor to clean up after himself but you washing up is an even stranger sight."

"I may be used to being waited on in Asgard but I do understand how to live on my own, Stark. It is something I have done much in the past." He turned round to face Tony, drying his hands on a tea-towel and looking so absurdly out of place it made Steve look modern. "I assume you came into the kitchen for something, Stark."

"Oh yeah, uh, actually I came in because what you cooked smelled real good. But if there's none of that on the menu, I'll just go get some coffee and go back to my lab." He moved over to the coffee machine in the corner.

Loki had made to move towards the door, but lingered when Tony spoke. "You work all night?" he asked.

"I work whenever I want. Ideas don't come on a schedule." Tony smiled. "You should come and have a look some time, for all this talk of inferior science I think you might be interested."

Loki smirked, almost laughing. "You'd let me into your lab? I could get my hands on any information."

"Yeah but as I'm significantly more powerful than you until your personality has changed to the point you wouldn't take advantage of it I think I'm fine."

Loki's face darkened, but he didn't rise to the bait. "I may come and have a look." he said simply, then froze as they heard a door close elsewhere in the house.

"Well you can come and have a look now if you wan-" Tony cut off as Loki's attention now turned sharply to the heavy footsteps coming down the hallway.

"Though your offer is gracious Stark I am now returning to my room, I have no desire to face my brother yet." he turned and left with a speed Natasha would be proud of, leaving Tony stood with coffee in the middle of the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3** - Short I know, but I uploaded quicker than usual. I'm off on holiday now for a bit, so it might be a while before the next one, but I have the basic frame of it planned out :)

* * *

Thor was very upset when he discovered he'd missed the appearance of his bother.

"What did he say? How was he?" Thor demanded, his face full of concern.

"Surprisingly un-hostile actually. I had expected worse." Tony mused.

"Why, what happened?"

"I asked to try his cooking, he said no, he confessed to being bored and then I invited him down to my lab. Pretty simple stuff."

"This is great news!" Thor smiled. "He is actually going to leave him room and take interest in something."

"Yeah don't expect him to be making friendship bracelets with you anytime soon. He didn't seem that enamoured with talking to you, sorry buddy." Tony went to leave the room.

"I still have faith in my brother Stark. I knew it would take a long time for him to trust me again, however I am glad he is already taking interest in other areas. He may be in a mortal body but I am sure he still has the stubbornness of a god."

"Yeah well, I've been accused of having that in the past," Tony muttered, "See ya big guy - I have calculations to complete."

* * *

Just when everyone seemed comfortable with having Loki sulking in his bedroom was when the former god of mischief decided to start making appearances around the tower. Firstly, he went to get food whilst Steve and Bruce were in the kitchen, completely ignoring them as he moved around the room while they eyed him warily.

Loki had similar run-ins with Natasha, Tony and then Steve again over the next couple of days. Tony had asked him if he'd gotten bored yet, but Loki just smiled and left.

It was another two days before Loki emerged from his room for anything other than food. He'd managed to avoid Thor every time he'd left, something Loki was quite proud of, and had stolen a pen and pad of paper from the kitchen. Writing and drawing kept him occupied for a while, but after those two days he was unable to cope any longer. He left his room then ventured to go and accept Tony's invitation.

"Sir - Loki Laufeyson is approaching." Chimed JARVIS, pulling Tony out of the conversation he was having with Steve.

"So," he said, straightening up as Loki carefully came through the glass door, "Gotten bored then I see? Even with the paper you took to entertain you."

Steve glanced up "So that's where it went."

"I was driven out by the lilac walls." Loki smirked.

"You really do have a problem with that colour don't you?" Tony said, his grin matching Loki's. "I may have to add that to your list of weaknesses." Loki came and leant up against his desk.

"What exactly can I do for you then?" Tony threw out in his most business like tone.

"Well I request you put into practice your offer to change the walls, that's a given." Loki stated.

"I can change that, but it means you're going to have to leave the room for an entire afternoon." Loki scowled and Tony said "Hey, we're not that bad!"

"It's not you I have a problem with, it's Thor. I have no wish to speak to him anytime soon. I'm not sure your Hawkeye is keen to spend time with me either, not after what I put him through. Believe me, it's better if I avoid most of the company of this tower."

Steve shrugged and said honestly "Its hard to trust someone who tried to take over the world. We'll come round eventually."

"You just have to convince them you don't want to murder them and they'll be fine. It might take a while but it can be done." Tony went to type on his computer but then stopped, looking up at Loki again. "You don't really want to murder anyone here, do you?" He asked carefully.

This received the first proper laugh from Loki since he'd been there. "I'd love nothing more than to impale my brother with the way he's acted recently, but as it would be counter productive to getting my magic back I shan't."

Steve's eyes widened in alarm, clearly not used to such casual murderous tendencies.

"Okay, well if that doesn't freak someone out I don't know what does." Tony sighed. "So what, come to look for something to do specifically?"

"Yes. Actually, I was wondering if I'd be allowed to leave this tower." There was a moment of silence from the two Avengers, neither sure what to say.

"I'm not sure that's the best idea Loki." Steve inserted gently.

"Why?" The former-god challenged coolly. "One of my criteria for being on this planet is to get a job - I'll need to leave the tower for that, so why not now?"

Steve looked thoughtful. "I can see your point but I still don't like it."

"I have an idea," Tony chimed in, "How about you go with him," he said to Steve, "That way he can explore and you can ensure he doesn't get up to trouble."

"Why don't you go and take him out Tony?" Steve asked.

"I know you're Captain America and all, but I'm still more noticeable and well known than you. You only appear on the news in spangly outfits, I appear on it without."

Steve struggled with himself internally for a few moments. "Fine."

Loki shrugged. "I do not wish for company but my desire to be out and about overrules that. I can cope. Just please allow me to go where my interest takes me." he said, running his fingers through his hair.

"I'm still not sure about it." Steve admitted, turning to Tony. "He may now be human but he's still capable of causing a lot of trouble."

"I appreciate the compliment," Loki smirked, then returned to a rather exasperated tone. "Please, just let me get out of the same building as my brother."

* * *

In the end they relented and allowed Loki out with a babysitter. Steve was unnerved with how well Loki blended into New York, he himself had been awake out of the forties for over a year now and he still didn't look anywhere near at comfortable as Loki did out and about. He looked nothing like the crazed-god that had tried to destroy the city when walking around in black trousers and leather jacket and nobody recognised him among the crowd.

The public did, however, recognise Steve. Loki became more and more irritated with having to stop and wait for him to finish chatting with people. Standing like an awkward third wheel whilst Steve talked to and smiled at obvious Captain America fans reminded him of similar situations with Thor in the past and made him feel like he hadn't escaped at all. So much for going out and getting some fresh air.

After about an hour and the seventh time they'd been stopped, it became far too much. Loki sighed, and while Steve was distracted, slipped away into the crowd to get some time to explore for himself.

* * *

"YOU LOST HIM?"

"Calm down Clint. He has none of his powers." Natasha soothed.

"That's not the fucking point Nat. What percentage of murderers across the world possess super powers? Very fucking few. We don't have super powers in that sense and look at us!"

"I'm sorry!" Steve said, "He's far more at home in New York than I am, he just melted away into the crowd!"

"It was a stupid decision by the two of you." Bruce said, looking between Steve and Tony, who were standing in the communal living area looking like naughty children.

"Loki is a shape shifter by nature", Thor demanded, "Did you not think it was in his nature to blend in? Why didn't you insist I go with him?"

"Hold up, he made it very clear he wanted nothing to do with you there." Tony said. "We thought by letting him out he'd blow off some steam and be more willing to spend time with us as a group."

"In hindsight you could at least have put some sort of tracking device on him." Natasha said. "And you could also have told more of us what you were planning to do."

"Look, I'm sorry, again," said Steve, "But our priority now is in finding him."

"Do you know where he'd go?" Bruce said to Thor.

"I truly do not know." Thor said sadly. "I hope he will come back to us willingly."

"He should have the decency to do so, I just had his room redecorated for him." Tony sulked. Everyone shot him a glare.

"Give it twenty-four hours," Natasha proposed, "And if he's not back at that point we'll go and look."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - So I have no idea where this is going. I didn't plan to write myself in as a coffee shop attendant or give Loki a dubious past. But it happened. Also please be aware I am an English girl writing something set in America. If there's anything I have got horrendously wrong about American life please inform me. I will say find it awfully difficult writing Cap.**

* * *

As soon as he'd slipped away, Loki moved as far away from Steve and the Avengers tower as possible. He knew running away would probably have some serious repercussions in the near future but after being out and along the tourist routes with Steve he felt the need to explore deeper. After all, this is the city he would now have to live and work in.

Moving his way through the city Loki slipped further and further off the tourist routes, following narrow streets and back alleys. He ducked in and out of little shops, and cafes, enjoying observing the different cultures and conversations around him. Really, he thought, Midgardians have such a strange array of rituals and habits.

After about an hour Loki found himself in a little coffee shop down in a back alley. At least, it said in the sign it was a coffee shop, but inside every exposed piece of wall was covered in dark bookshelves, full with book covers of all size and colour. It reminded Loki of his study back in Asgard. The shop was empty apart from one couple sat in the corner and one girl behind the counter, sat idly rearranging pieces of a dismantled coffee machine.

Loki moved towards the counter, smiling as sweetly as possible as the girl turned round and saw him. As the God of Lies he knew how to charm strangers into liking him.

"Oh, hey, I haven't seen you around here before." She flicked her red hair out of her face. "I'm afraid our main purpose as a coffee shop is kind if redundant at the moment, as you can see." She gestured to the broken machine behind her.

"I can see." Loki said.

"Ohh, what's that accent?" She looked inquisitively at him. "Is that English?"

Loki hesitated for a moment. Well, he was the God of Lies. "Yeah, it is."

"Cool, English guy. How'd you find us? Most people that come here have already been brought in by other friends. Frank over there was introduced to this place by Jenna there, and she only started coming after her sister, who used to be a regular, told her about it."

"Are you this familiar with all of your customers?"

"Well there aren't many so yes, usually."

"Exclusive place then?" Loki raised his eyebrows.

"You could say that."

"Well honestly I was just passing through. I'm new here and I thought I'd explore, I just came across the sign outside and I though it looked interesting."

"Well it's nice to see you. Even if I can't offer you coffee." She smiled sheepishly. "Tea?"

"Yes please." He gazed over at the foreign machinery as she moved around making it for him.

"What's wrong with the machine?" Loki asked, leaning forwards over the counter. He didn't miss the way the shop assistant's eyes glanced over his figure before she answered.

"I, um, there's a bit in the middle that's broken. It snapped clean off. It's only small but we don't make the biggest of profits here and we can't afford to get it replaced."

"So, a coffee shop that isn't going to be able to make coffee for a while."

"Yeah and it sucks. I mean we can do milkshakes and tea, but the sign over the door says coffee and without it we'll suffer." She shrugged. "Oh well, Angie, that's my manager, she says she should be able to get it by the end of next week."

Loki was highly amused by how casually the girl in front of him seemed to be taking the potential ruin of her livelihood.

"How do you expect to get paid if you're not making a profit?" He asked.

She sighed and sat on the stool behind the counter, pushing the tea and assorted optional extras towards Loki, looking up at him. "Well, I can't find a job anywhere else so I might as well take what I've got."

"Don't you have bills to pay?" He asked.

"Oh I'm still living at home with my parents. This is just to build up my collage fund. Though it looks like I'll be here longer than originally planned at this rate." She watched Loki's hands moved as he stirred milk and sugar into his tea. "Enough about me anyway, what about you? You working?"

"No. As I said, I'm new here. Finding a job is on my list of things to do." He took a sip of his drink.

"You really are something. How can you be so blasé about finding a job in an economy like this? It took me months to find this place. I only came because my Aunt knew the owner."

"Well as I said, I'm new in town. Funds have not become an issue yet."

They sat in silence for a while, Loki drinking while the girl tidied up the counter and then sat back behind it again. She kept throwing glances at Loki and it was obvious she wanted to say something. Her indecision lasted for a few moments but then broke as she obviously made her mind up.

"You know I have this guy who works alongside me on Saturdays, but he keeps failing to turn up and I have to run things on my own. Angie says if he fails to turn up once more he's fired. Which all things considered is pretty likely." She shuffled awkwardly on her chair. "So what I'm saying is, within the next couple of weeks, we'll have a position open here, if you wanted the job."

Loki's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Surely this mortal girl wasn't offering him employment before the position even opened? "Are you sure you're allowed to offer me that?" he asked lightly.

"Hey I practically run this place myself anyway, Angie is just in charge of finance. It's not as if working here there's lots to do, in my free time I've worked my way round two thirds of the books on these walls. And besides, you've made me smile on a pretty crap day." She looked up at him shyly.

Loki was surprised and touched at her answer, in a way he hadn't expected to be. Honestly he thought living here would be boringly torturous, but after slipping away from surveillance he'd started to enjoy himself. Loki had always enjoyed being amongst strangers, easing them into talking about their secrets and pasts, finding out who did and didn't lead interesting lives. It turns out that Midgardians were much the same.

He pulled some money out of his pocket and left it on the counter. "I'll consider your offer." Standing up he turned to leave, eyes scanning the shelves on his way out. At the door the girl called back to him. "What's you name?"

He paused and looked back, smiling. "Loki" he said with a smile, and then left.

* * *

It was around five in the evening when Loki returned to the tower. As soon as he walked in the revolving doors on the bottom floor alarms started flashing and within under a minute all 6 Avengers had made it down to the bottom floor to gather around him. The Avengers pulled him out of the public view and into the elevator to the top floors. None of them looked very impressed.

"Where the fuck were you?" Tony asked bitterly.

"I was wandering. I wanted to explore the city and I did." he answered simply.

"But you can't just wander off and leave me!" Steve tried to scold, but his words sounded more pleading than punishing. At this Loki had to resist the temptation to roll his eyes.

"Excuse me if stopping on the tourist lines every five minutes so you could sign an autograph isn't my favourite thing to do. Really, I wasn't seeing the city at all."

Thor stepped forwards. "Bother my allies were worried. With your reputation and after only being here a few days I do not blame them for not trusting you amongst the Midgardian public."

"So you all assumed I was going to march out and slit throats?" Loki smiled, which immediately caused multiple eyes to narrow. "Really, in what way would that help me get my magic back? I may have a relaxed attitude towards violence but really, how would that help me with getting employed and getting out of here? I am no idiot."

"Well you're pretty supid for wandering off, because we aren't letting you out again anytime soon. You're on house arrest." Steve scowled. Loki smiled again as he stepped out of the escalator, not acting as if he was being apprehended at all.

"Oh really? And what if I informed you I may have found employment?"

"There is no fucking way you've got a job already." Clint exclaimed.

"I've been informed of a position that will open up soon and I wish to take it."

Thor frowned. "Are you sure brother? Where is this position?"

"It's working in a small coffee shop downtown." He said back over his shoulder to those following as he walked towards his room. There were joint exclamations of surprise behind him.

"But that's so normal." Clint stated.

"Yeah," said Tony "I was 90% sure you'd end up working as a high class hooker or something."

Loki reached his door and paused outside. "I'd not likely do that again." He raised his eyebrows and moved into his room, putting the lock in place behind him and feeling he'd filled his quota of dramatic door exits for today.

Outside there was an awkward pause as everyone bar Thor registered what had just been said. The Thunder god just sighed. It was Clint who broke the silence.

"Wait… again?"


	5. Chapter 5

Thor refused to tell the others about Loki's dubious past, insisting that they find out for themselves, however it was rather difficult to get information out of someone who was intent on staying in their room. Loki purposefully avoided dinner and all invitations to join anyone else until rather late that night.

Tony was just finishing perfecting the design for a new arc reactor when Loki slipped into his lab. He looked up in surprise.

"I didn't know you visiting me down here was gonna be a regular thing." He said, watching Loki walk towards the desk. Loki moved slowly, looking around and taking in every detail around him in a way he hadn't bothered earlier in the day.

"Well I thought it would be decent of me to thank you for the change in my room." Loki muttered, still looking around.

"Since when have you cared about decent?" He was ignored. "And why are you suddenly so curious about my lab?"

Loki reached the desk and turned and looked at Tony at this point. "I was not sure how our dear Captain would take my curiosity. He may have become suspicious at my interest, which given my past is likely."

"But you don't care about me seeing you look around?" Tony asked, confused. "What's so different about me?"

Loki smiled at him. "You've already expressed that you don't care if I'm down here. And also, I think you of all people can appreciate curiosity when looking at things complex and foreign to you."

There was a silence at they caught eye contact. Loki carried on smiling and dared Tony to deny him on that. Tony just sat suspiciously eyeing the guy who had just nailed one of his biggest flaws, if something caught his interest Tony could never resist the temptation to leave it alone, doing everything in his power to work out the puzzle.

"I might change my mind and tell you to get out." Tony challenged.

"Nonsense. You're just as curious about me and my magic as I am about your science."

Tony smirked. "So you're _that_ interested about me and my work? Surprising."

"Believe me," said Loki, pulling a chair over and sitting by Tony's desk. "Anything is interesting after staring at walls for so long. Even if they have now changed colour."

Tony laughed and turned to the projections again.

* * *

Loki sat for quite a while watching Tony work. He was fascinated by the pull up 3D projections of the suit that Tony worked around and appreciated the detail he put into it. Tony was uneasy with such sharp eyes on him at first but after a while his focus narrowed into the projections he was playing with and forgot Loki was there. It was roughly an hour and a half later before he registered feeling tired and put the designs away (or at least had JARVIS do that for him).

When he looked up he noticed that Loki had moved to the other side of the room to make himself coffee and then returned, sat on another desk with a now empty mug in front of him. Tony couldn't help but be impressed by how immersed he had ended up being to miss Loki's movement, and from the look on Loki's face, he appreciated the work fascination too.

"So you've finally surfaced from the science then?" The former-god smirked.

"Yes, yes I have. I suppose at some point soon I should go and get some sleep, Pepper mentioned something about company meetings tomorrow." He yawned.

"Does that mean I'm being forcibly removed from the room as well?" Loki asked innocently.

"I might trust you to be in here with company but I'm not sure I trust you on your own." Tony admitted. His eyes glanced at the worktop, he paused, and then handed Loki a tablet. "Here, this should keep you entertained. It's touch screen, just press it and- ah you'll work it out. There's lots to do."

Loki looked down at the object in his hands and raised an eyebrow.

"Press the square in the bottom left to access the internet. Now, I'm off to bed, let's move."

Loki followed silently behind Tony as they left the lab and went to their separate ways. Tony glanced back and watched Loki move down the hall towards his room, fingers already lightly and quickly moving over the touchscreen as he walked. Maybe giving Loki access to the internet wasn't the best of ideas. Tony shook his head and moved off to bed.

* * *

Loki was out in the communal living area, curled up on the sofa by Tony's ridiculous art deco fake fire, tablet in hand, the next afternoon when the Avengers gathered there. There was a briefly awkward moment as each side of the room caught eye contact with each other and stopped, before Tony spoke out.

"Well. Guess we won't have to try and drag Loki out of his room to tell him then." He said easily.

"Do we really need a team meeting to tell Doom and Gloom over there we're leaving?" Clint asked. "Like, were you seriously planning to sit him down and tell him to be a good boy while we were away?"

"Point taken." Tony said.

"You're leaving?" Loki asked.

"Diplomatic mission to Dubai." Steve answered. "We're there to make a point and stop things escalating, apparently."

"Not sure why me being there will calm anything down." Bruce said with a bitter smile.

"And I shall be going back to Asgard for a few days now brother." Thor said. "I shall be back by early next week, if talks with Father run smoothly. Longer if they do not."

"So you're being left with us." Natasha said smoothly, gesturing to herself and Tony.

"Bye then." Tony cut in cheerfully. "The sooner I get peace and quiet back the better."

Steve shook his head. "We'll be back by the end of the week. I'm still worried about you and Loki here with just Nat you know. I have a bad feeling about this."

"I knew we could get you subconsciously referencing modern cinema," Tony smiled, "Now clear off."

Steve shook his head and then all of them bar Thor walked out of the room. The Thunder god paused and looked across at Loki. "Please, do not misbehave while we are away." He asked; an almost pleading look in his eyes. Loki smiled back at him, still curled up with the tablet on the sofa.

"When have I ever done such a thing?" He said with a wicked grin.

Tony laughed openly. "We'll keep him out of trouble, big guy. Since when has anyone ever disobeyed Nat and lived?" He asked. Thor looked a little better at that.

"Then I shall see you soon. Goodbye, friends." With one last puppy dog smile, he departed out to the balcony to be whisked away to Asgard, leaving Natasha and Tony standing awkwardly.

"Well there's no use standing round forever." Natasha announced, moving to sit on the nearest sofa and reaching for the TV remote. Loki looked wary as Tony walked over and sat down on the sofa right next to him.

"Visiting you in your lab wasn't an invitation to come and be my new best friend." He said flatly.

Tony's hand flew to his mouth in mock horror. "I'd never try such a thing!" He dropped his hand. "So, enjoying the internet then?"

"Yes actually." Loki said, a telling smile pulling at the edges of his mouth.

"What've you seen?" Asked Natasha at the same time Tony leant over Loki's shoulder to answer the same question himself.

"Oh dear god Nat, he's found his own Wikipedia page."

Natasha took her eyes away from the television and looked across at Loki, who laughed openly.

"It's hilarious. Really, the things you mortals believe." He said. "Every single one of my endeavours has been woven through with sheer ridiculousness. Very few of these events have been portrayed accurately."

"Which 'endeavours' were portrayed rightly then?" Tony asked.

"Most of the early ones. They've greatly exaggerated the number of children I have though."

Natasha smirked at this "So you didn't give birth to a horse?"

Loki looked her in the eyes, his face completely straight. "Oh no, my dear Slepnir is very real I assure you."

"What seriously?" Tony asked.

"Yes, with all seriousness." Loki said. "The tale is even more or less correct; though I assure you it wasn't my intention to be impregnated."

"Oh dear." Said Natasha, and Tony winced.

"Moving on quickly then, what about your other children?" Tony asked. "Are the wolf and the snake real as well?"

"No. I have one other living child, Vali." Loki said. His stared across the room, not really looking at anything, and then his voice grew softer. "Though I do not get to see him."

Tony and Natasha caught eye contact, but wanting to ask but both doubtful as to how far they should push the matter, the slightly sad look on Loki's face telling them they shouldn't push it. In the end they came to a silent decision to shelve that topic for later.

"In other news," Tony announced, "Tell us about your secret history as a prostitute. That's certainly interesting."

Loki laughed at that, pulled out of his thoughts. "Well wouldn't you like to know." He smirked.

"Well obviously, or I wouldn't have asked."

"It was a long time ago, around five hundred years ago by your standards." Loki said. "As princes Thor and I had always been raised to try and avoid interaction with such shameful professions, and I was curious. While my family presumed me away on diplomatic missions, I took the form of a young woman and went and uh, indulged, shall we say."

Tony's eyes shot up at that. "You can turn into a woman?"

"Only a few moments ago we were discussing my exploits as a female horse. Do you really think an Aesir female was beyond my talents?"

"Tony has a one track mind, I hope you realise that." Natasha said plainly.

"I won't deny it." Tony said, putting his hands up just as Loki raised his eyebrows.

"Anyway," Natasha continued, "How long did that last?"

"I lasted about a year before I was discovered. Turns out I caused quite a stir in the underworld and it wasn't long before the men of Odin's court were asking for me."

"Ah politicians."

"Yes, indeed. It was only a matter of time before one of them recognised me for who I was. Though I won't deny it was fun to play with some of the more senior officials before being caught. I unnerved them by knowing as much as I did about court."

"And having shameless amount of sex." Tony added.

"It was fun. Why not?" Loki said, raising his hands. "I came out of it laughing and with earnings independent of my money as a prince, which was often carefully controlled by the palace."

"So you did it for shits and giggles then?"

"It's an odd way of putting it, but I suppose you could say that, yes."

"Any other fun exploits you can tell us about?" Tony asked.

Loki sat forwards, putting the tablet down and smiling. If there was one thing he could do, it was tell an engaging story, and he'd never really displayed his talent with tales to any mortals before. After all, he wasn't nicknamed 'Silvertongue' for nothing.

"Have you ever heard of the time Thor ended up in a wedding dress? Well…"

* * *

The stories lasted until late that evening, Loki seemingly delighted at having the chance to indulge and tell his own sides to many of the well-known tales. He certainly enjoyed the chance to make fun of his brother when he could (and he did, often, getting many laughs from Tony and even the odd one from Natasha). It was with a smile on his face that Loki went to bed that night, feeling happier than he had in a long time, and certainly more so than he expected to be without his magic. Though he still felt hollow without magical aid, he had to admit maybe things were starting to look up.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"So are you really sure you want to work here?"

It was early the next morning when Tony and Loki left the tower. After putting a bracelet with a tracking device tight on Loki's wrist they had decided it best to have someone go with him to visit his potential new place of work, just to check it did actually exist and was supervillain appropriate.

It was around eight when they pulled up round the corner from the cafe. Tony climbed out of the flashy sports car with his normal suit on, with sunglasses. Loki was dressed more appropriately for the weather, with a long coat and scarf to guard against the early winds.

"Yes Stark," Loki said tiredly, having been asked the question multiple times already this morning. "I like the café and I do want to work there."

"So where is this place then?" Tony asked cheerfully, peering down the dubious back alleys and laughing to himself at Loki's choice of neighbourhood. Really, the guy couldn't be creepier if he tried. He glanced down at Loki's choice of clothes again. _Hipster_.

"Just round here," Loki said, as they rounded the corner towards the shop. As soon as his eyes fell on it he relaxed, releasing tension he didn't realise had built. Was it often a habit of humans to get worked up over such little things? Loki had certainly noticed an increase in the number of irrational thoughts he'd been giving. For a moment he'd held the incomprehensible fear that the shop would have disappeared, that the place he could use as a relief from the tower had gone. _Stupid mortals, I hope I don't remain like this for long_.

The bell tinkled as they walked through the door, eyes adjusting to the darker light in the cafe. It was empty apart from a round, elderly woman stood behind the counter. She looked up as they walked through the door and smiled warmly.

"Hi there! Take a seat I'll be with you in a sec."

Loki gave her an utterly charming but completely fake smile and moved over towards a seat by the window. Tony followed him, eyes moving around the interior. He slid down across from Loki and pulled down his sunglasses, looking directly at him, deciding it was all rather old fashioned for his own taste.

"Bit gothic on the architecture but I gotta admit, this place suits you." He remarked.

Loki raised one eyebrow. "And what do you mean by that?"

"Dark and gothic, you know, vampires and shit. And the books on half these walls look older than me."

"I dare say they are," Loki said, eyes roaming the walls, "but I do like it here, it reminds me somewhat of the study in my rooms in Asgard."

"Ooh, do you have dark rooms with coffins and stuff there too?" Tony joked, trying not to look as curious as he was feeling.

"Hardly."

"Well what does it look like then?"

Loki smiled, seeing Tony's curiosity clearly. After all the stories of the night before Loki didn't consider it would cause any issues to disclose much more about his life. It wasn't as if the man could tell if he was being truthful.

"Not quite coffins I assure you, but I do have dark wood bookcases and desks. The walls are decorated in a light gold, with green curtains and accents on the fabrics."

"So you actually walk round in a suit the same colour as your rooms?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh don't worry, that's only one of my many rooms. I decorate in more colours than that."

The woman from behind the counter shuffled up to the table, looking down and smiling. "Now what can I do for ya today then?"

"I'll just have a latte," Loki said with ease, sitting up and angling his body towards her, "and I believe one of your colleagues said something about a vacancy opening here soon? I'd like to express my interest."

"Oh yes! We do have an opening for staff on some evenings and Saturdays. You want an application form?" She beamed down at him.

"Yes please." Loki offered his most dazzling people-pleasing smile.

"Okay then. And you'll have?" She asked, turning to Tony.

"Uh, what?" He stumbled, "Oh erm, same. But with an extra shot."

"Okay then honey, I'll be right back." She shuffled off towards the counter again.

Tony looked up to see Loki staring at him, trying to hold back from giggling. "What?" he asked "I got so caught up in that smile of yours, seriously, how do you just turn it on and off like that?"

"I thought you of all people would know how to put on a show." Loki said, still fighting to keep a straight face. "I'm not the god of lies for naught."

"You're not the god of anything at the moment." Tony shot back.

The smile on Loki's face turned bitter at that. "Yes well someday I shall be again."

"Going through with the whole good boy act then?" Tony joked. "Really, even if you hadn't gone insane and killed everyone- okay, no need for that look, you did – then I still really don't see you as the goody-two shoes type. You remind me of this guy I knew in college, thought he was blonde-"

"Here's your coffee, and I have your application honey," the manager shuffled back with a tray and a collection of papers, "Just bring it back in when you've done it, then we'll see about getting you in."

"Thank you, truly." Loki smiled again.

"You enjoy your coffee now." She said, moving away again. Loki turned to Tony.

"Do you ever shut up?" he asked, plainly.

"Depends. Now? Not likely. But I can go quiet for days on end when working." He admitted. "On the flip side, do you ever get really talkative? Or are we going to run with the silent victim act forever?"

"You've seen me telling stories, have you not?"

"Yeah but that's an act. I mean, do you ever get really, enthusiastically chatty?" The tone of Tony's voice changed, it held less bravado, less arrogant showman than he usually displayed out in public.

Loki paused, hesitating before speaking and he added sugar to his coffee (_Two spoonfuls_ – Tony noted). "I used to, in my youth. There was a time when I was much more carefree."

Tony stayed silent, face urging him to continue. Loki could practically feel the curiosity seeping out of him. He started speaking hesitantly.

"That was before all this – before my marriage, before my children."

"And when was that?" Tony asked; voice still softer than usual.

Loki looked up at him, irked by the curiosity and seemingly genuine concern in the face of a man whom he had only recently thrown out of a window. He didn't understand the mortal's desire to help rehabilitate him, let alone the need for heartfelt conversation (something Loki had not engaged in for hundreds of years). "And why would you care, mortal?" he said, letting his negativity show.

"Well you live in my house."

Loki raised an eyebrow.

"And besides, am I not allowed to care?" Tony asked openly.

Loki's face turned bitter. "I don't see why you should."

"I don't see why I shouldn't." Tony shot back.

"Are you always this sarcastic and irritating?"

"I don't know, you tell me."

They stared each other down for a few moments, then the tension broke and they both smiled, Tony snorting out a laugh and Loki allowing himself a grin. He smiled to himself for a few moments, considered his choice of words, and then spoke, eyes staring up at the bookshelves and not making eye contact with the man opposite. "A while ago, again, by your standards around four hundred years ago. I was married to Sigyn, and within a year we had the twins. I need hardly say the marriage didn't last long."

"Turn out to have married a witch, huh?"

Loki shot him a glare, but there was no venom in his voice when he continued. "I was young and foolish, I believed myself to be in love with her as she believed herself to be in love with me. We'd gotten far enough in creating a life for ourselves that when things fell apart they did so rather spectacularly. I suppose it was then, looking back, that I began to realise how little I fit in at the palace. There had always been a sense of not belonging but it was then the truth really came ou-."

"Wait, sorry, but the other day you said you had one child. You know, apart from the horse." Tony interrupted, as his thoughts caught up with Loki's words.

"I said I had one other _living_ child." Loki said curtly, still not making eye contact with Tony.

"Oh." There was a moment of rather awkward silence. "So, erm, how did-"

"Enough from me." Loki interrupted, turning back to face Tony before he could ask the question. "Tell me more about you." He smiled.

"There really isn't that much to tell." Tony shrugged.

"Now that I do not believe." Loki smiled; then pointed to Tony's chest. "Tell me about _that_."

"I'm pretty sure you've found that on the internet by now." Tony said frankly.

"Yes, but I'd rather hear it from your point of view. I've revealed a little of my life, now tell me a little of yours."

There was a long pause. When Tony did speak it was curt and blank of emotion, his hand absent-mindedly stirring his coffee. "It sucks, truthfully, to have your father figure try and kill you, then sabotage your company and then try to kill you again."

"So, what does the device in your chest actually do?"

"It keeps shrapnel from a particularly vicious explosion reaching my heart."

"So, without it, you die?" Loki mused, voice light.

Tony levelled a stare at him. "Don't even think about it. You kill me and I'm pretty sure your brother would kill you."

A spark of something like hope flickered in Loki's chest. He may now be mortal but the man sitting opposite him had just confessed a very real weakness, one that brought him down from his position of power above Loki. Now he could consider someone in the tower his equal.

"Whatever do you mean?" He teased; the same condescending tone he'd used on his brother the day before creeping back in.

"Just drink your goddamn coffee." Tony grumbled.

Loki just smiled and took a sip of his coffee. The two of them drank in silence for several minutes, but the silence wasn't awkward or pressing, if anything it was comfortable. When they finished Tony pulled out far more money than the bill required, left it on the table and then beckoned for Loki to leave. They walked out, in silence, and slid into the car. Once inside the vehicle Loki turned back to Tony.

"Thank you, for trusting me in public."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 - Again, this one got away from me. And I have no beta so if you'd like to point out typos I'm happy to go in and change them.**

* * *

"What should I label my emergency contact number as?" Loki asked the two Avengers sat opposite him in the kitchen.

"Oh god how many more of these questions are there?" Tony moaned melodramatically, letting his head hit the desk.

"Put it as Tony's. He may be irresponsible but there's always someone here to answer the phone for him. I'm working too often to be a reliable number." Natasha paused. "Not that we won't monitor you at work anyway."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Are we really going to attach a baby monitor to him? Loki can take care of himself." Tony said.

"Someone's suddenly developed a lot of faith in our resident supervillain." Natasha said, turning to Tony and raising her eyebrows.

"For god's sake he's not a baby. Petulant maybe but if we treat him like a child he'll just act more like one. I know, I used to do it to Pepper."

"I take it you are aware I am in the room with you?" Loki sighed.

"Turn down the sass Rudolph I hate paperwork." Tony supplied.

"What did you just call me?"

"Well if you're gonna walk round in horns..."

"Children please." Natasha sighed. "Just a few questions left then we can drop the application back off."

So far they'd been working on Loki's application form for two hours. Every question had been complicated to find an answer for, even down to his name. It wasn't really a good idea to announce that the guy who'd tried to take over the world was going for a job in a cafe, in the end they'd decided to change it to 'Luke'. Arguments had broken out over which surname to give him, with Loki flat out refusing to take the name Odinson. In the end they'd gone for "Liesmith", which Loki was rather proud of and Tony called cliché, but which Natasha insisted they should just write down and move on. They'd also had to give him an inconspicuous address, which ended in Tony having to buy a cheap apartment in downtown Manhattan in Loki's new name. He'd been supplied with a new Stark phone so that he had a mobile number, etc, etc.

After fifteen more minutes of questions Loki threw down the pen on the desk, announcing they had finally finished. Natasha gave a smile and told him they'd go and drop it off the next morning, and Tony cheered and dragged himself to the bar for a drink "to celebrate". Natasha shuffled the papers into a pile and looked up at Loki.

"I'm going to go and train down in the gym now. D'you want to join me?" she said lightly.

Loki looked a little thunderstruck. "And why would I?" he sneered.

"Just because you're human now doesn't mean you should stop training. Before you came here you would have been able to beat me hands down in a fight, but now I'm not so sure."

"So you're telling me I have become worthless? Thank for the reminder." He scowled at her, eyes going dark and glaring. She was suddenly reminded of why he was sent here.

"Loki no, that's not what I meant. I'm just saying now might be a good time to practise fighting physically, be deadly even without magic."

Loki paused for a moment, face still dark, but then sighed dramatically and got up. "Okay. I'll be down there soon." Natasha smiled to herself.

* * *

Loki stepped tentatively through the door to the gym, scanning the room. He'd changed into something more suitable for movement, but deep down felt bare and exposed without his full armour. He knew realistically with human strength the armour would weigh him down rather than aid him, but he still disliked it. The large room was completely silent, punch bags, weights and other equipment on the far wall, along with some far more unorthodox equipment – a sword for one.

Walking into the room he felt strangely apprehensive. As he approached the mats in the middle of the room he heard a slight creaking from above, and his gaze snapped up to see Natasha amongst the framework and pipes that crisscrossed over the ceiling. She instantly recognised that she'd been spotted and swung down, snapping into a fighting crouch on the floor. She stared up at him.

"You're very good; most people would completely forget to look up."

"I may now be human but my mind is still intact. I do have several centuries of fighting experience behind me."

"Well lets test how many of those skills have transferred over, shall we?" She smiled and walked over to the wall of weapons, reaching for two bows and a set of arrows. He arched his eyebrow at her.

"I think it's best you practise with this before Clint gets back. He will not be impressed with the idea of you using his training equipment." She walked over to him, handing him one of the bows and looking up. "JARVIS, open the shooting range."

Loki watched as the wall of one end of the room rose up dramatically, revealing several different targets and mannequins. The one directly in the middle had been dressed in a black cloak, with comic facial features painted on and a wig, with an arrow through its forehead. It was painfully obvious that the mannequin was supposed to be a replica of Loki himself.

Natasha froze, gauging Loki's reaction, but after a moment's surprise the former god just laughed. He turned to her. "Does our resident Hawk harbour some resentment towards me, I wonder?"

"Well, you did mind control him." Natasha said flatly. Loki didn't reply. Instead, he picked up his bow and held it out, flexing his muscles to gage his own strength. He pulled back the bowstring and released it, feeling the tension of the bow. Next to him, Natasha picked up an arrow, crouched, aimed and fired it at one of the circular targets, hitting the edge of the centre ring. She paused, then took another arrow and fired again, this time hitting the circle more centrally.

Loki paused to watch her for a moment, watching how she positioned herself and tested a similar position himself. He drew an arrow and let it go, feeling he hadn't pulled it with enough power immediately. The arrow fell just short of the target, hitting the floor beneath and skidding away. He frowned, eyebrows coming together, and pulled back this time with more force. The arrow hit the target this time, but only on the bottom right hand corner. He frowned even more.

"How do you mortals achieve anything in such clumsy bodies? No wonder you blunder around the Earth."

Natasha watched him try again, observing how he held himself. "Try straightening your arm more, that's it. And breathe out then release, if it's control and finesse you're looking for." Loki took a deep breath then exhaled, releasing the bowstring. This time the arrow hit the second ring out from the centre. Loki looked a little more pleased with himself, and Natasha smiled up at him. "You'll get there. Time and practise are all it takes."

"I'm beginning to understand why you're all so underdeveloped. These bodies are so clumsy and so needy. You can't learn anything without spending hours practising and you are unable to practise for any length of time without needing food or sleep. It's infuriating."

Natasha gifted him with a rare smile. "And doesn't that make it amazing to see how much we've built?"

"I was going to illustrate how weak and pathetic it makes you as a race."Loki sneered. Natasha just carried on smiling at him.

"Well, you're one of us now so you might as well try being optimistic about it." She turned and walked back to the wall, putting the bow back and moving into the centre of the room to aim various spinning kicks at a mannequin there. Loki continued to practise, improving his aim slowly but surely. After a while, he put the bow down and moved to join Natasha on the mats.

"You know, I'm beginning to appreciate Hawkeye's skills all the more, knowing how hard it is to train these bodies."

"Are you admitting an appreciation for human skill there Loki?" She smiled.

"Don't push me." Loki said, though the smile on his face softened the harsh tone.

"Clint is an unusually gifted individual," Natasha said, still kicking and spinning, "He was born with that. Practise just finished his skill set off really."

"I was similar with magic." He paused, and Natasha looked at him, urging him on. "It is rather rare for Aesir to be born with magic, I was just assumed to be special. I'm appalled at my own inability to link the high number of magic uses amongst the Jotun with my own gifts."

"Well if you weren't looking for it you wouldn't have seen it." She said gently, wondering how much information she could gain from him.

"Hmm."

Before she could ask another question, JARVIS's smooth voice cut through the room. "Lady Romanoff you are required upstairs immediately. There is an ongoing emergency in downtown Manhattan."

Natasha raced upstairs as fast as possible, Loki close behind. They burst into the living area just as Tony sighed off from a video call with Fury on the television.

"There are some nasty looking creatures downtown, they're setting fire to shit and generally making a mess. No they're not human and we have no idea which planet they're from, but they need to be stopped." He paused as his mobile suit reached and enveloped him. Natasha spoke up.

"I'll suit up and swing by SHIELD to get some stuff, meet you there in ten."

Loki stood aghast. "You're just going to fly in and stop these unknown creatures? No plan at all?" He said.

"Sometimes no plan is the best plan." Tony filtered through the mask, before walking to the balcony and taking off.

"Well what am I supposed to do?" Loki asked, gesturing to himself.

"You're not practiced enough to join us as human yet." Natasha said. "Stay here and sit tight, there's not much more you can do." She ran out the room, leaving him stood lost on the carpet.


	8. Chapter 8

Loki stood frustrated staring out of the window at the distant explosions downtown. They looked dangerous and he highly doubted Tony or Natasha would be able to make an impact without getting seriously injured themselves. To both his surprise and irritation worry gnawed at Loki's stomach, and it struck him that he would be genuinely upset if either of his keepers were injured. The alien sensation of worry caused him to feel annoyed and frustrated with himself for letting human emotions get the better of him, and the weight of his combined emotions felt overwhelming. Aesir bodies lived for so long, emotions built slowly. It was almost possible to feel them before they happened. These human bodies felt so fragile and yet their emotions burnt so brightly, flashing sudden flames and explosions compared to slow, burning embers.

It was over an hour since Tony and Natasha had left and Loki had done nothing but pace angrily and stare out of the window, his worry growing. He was just contemplating giving up, telling himself he didn't care and going to sit down when the television lit up behind him. He spun round as Bruce's face appeared on the screen.

"Loki?" The doctor asked tentatively.

"I'm here." Loki replied sharply, standing straight in front of Tony's super TV, eliminating all physical signs of his emotions. He was not compromised enough to admit to this weakness yet.

"Right, well I'm calling to say we're on our way back. It'll be a good 10 hours before we can get there though, even with SHIELD's fast jets. Any news?" Bruce asked hopefully.

"I am not in a position to do anything at the moment Banner, I have no idea what is going on and nor do I care." Loki assured him in an aloof manner. His anger at becoming emotional reflected outwardly as bitterness and he refused to show the scientist anything but contempt.

"Right. Well if you are interested you could always do what everyone else does – watch it on television."

"I am not lowering myself to the level of you primitive idiots." Loki said flatly, not keeping back any of his dislike for the Avenger before him.

Bruce just sighed. "Well, we'll see you when we're back then." He disconnected.

* * *

An hour later and Loki was perched on the front of the sofa, clutching at a cup of tea and watching with avid interest as the battle played out on the screen before him. Much of the military and SHIELD's agents surrounded the damaged area; they'd evacuated all civilians and were trying to keep the chaos confined. Natasha was working with them, not really able to do much without superhuman abilities or amazing technological advancements. Tony was flying around above the creatures, trying to find a way to stop them with the various tricks the suit held.

Loki had been able to identify the creatures immediately as magical. The eight foot tall flaming beasts were not solid and therefore could not be damaged by bullets or lasers. The military had tried to fire water cannons at the creatures as well, but they'd been shrouded by a force field that the water just bounced off of. They were also obviously only minions conjured by another being, with only the imprint of individual thought or identity. It was impressive work; Loki mused, but was too tied up worrying about his keepers to really focus on their source.

He tensed up when one of the creatures sent a fire bolt directly towards Tony. In the suit Tony swerved at the last moment as the fire went cascading into the building behind, which was already on fire. Tony sent a bomb right at the creature's feet, which exploded and sent it falling into the wet ground. The fire dimmed and flickered for a moment as the creature screamed and writhed on the ground, causing everyone to clap their hands over their ears to block out the wailing. Meanwhile, another creature shot more fire bolts at the agents lining the damaged area, and Tony flew in to try and knock it back. By the time he'd driven the creature back into the middle; the one he'd knocked down had regained its strength, and started shooting again.

It was obvious even through the television screen that everyone involved was exhausted. Over the next half an hour Loki watched as Tony's shots grew clumsier and it took him longer to react to threats. The creatures themselves were not weakening at all, but strangely neither were they attacking with any more strength. They didn't seem to have any objective or purpose, they weren't killing many people and neither were they destroying any infrastructure. It struck Loki quite suddenly that this might only be a few sent to test the water; if they were being conjured by someone then the magician would need to test the strength of their enemies before sending everyone. It's what he would have done-

Loki was quite suddenly jolted out of his thoughts by a loud explosion on the television and the sight of a fireball sending Tony straight back through a concrete wall, which then collapsed on top of him. Loki's heart thudded in his chest and his breath quickened as he stood up in front of the screen, his head flooded with frustration and worry as the news team reporting found itself unable to get close and find out what was happening. Loki let out a snarl of frustration and paced around the room, going to the window again and trying to make out anything amongst the distant explosions. It really was bothering him that he didn't know the extent of Tony's injuries, and even more so that Tony's welfare was biting so much as his conscience._ What have you become_, he thought to himself, _getting emotionally attached to the mortals_.

The television caught his attention again as the explosions abruptly stopped and shocked gasps emanated from the reporting team. He turned to the screen to see the bewildered reporter saying that the creatures had just vanished. Loki moved closer to the television, trying to get more information when it suddenly cut into another video call, with Natasha appearing on the screen.

"Loki – the battle's over, but Tony's injured. He's currently in a SHIELD hospital but I'll be back in around an hour and hopefully with him. SHIELD is bringing him to the tower because the stubborn bastard refuses to lie in a normal hospital." She sounded exhausted, her hair falling across her face.

"What happened to the creatures?" Loki asked, hiding the relief flooding through his system that Tony was alive.

"They just vanished." Natasha's look turned stern. "SHIELD are going to want to interrogate you about how magic works soon. Be prepared."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Wonderful."

"Anyway, I have to go debrief now. Bye." She cut the call.

* * *

Fifty four minutes later (but it's not like Loki was counting or anything) SHIELD arrived, carrying Tony up to his room on a wheeled bed with various wires attached. He hung back as they rushed passed, only moving when they had, for the most part, cleared out. Natasha came down to sit with him while they waited and Loki looked, almost shyly, across at her.

"How is he?" he said hesitantly.

Natasha's head snapped round, immediately thrown off guard by how soft Loki's voice sounded. She'd heard that tone of voice multiple times before, by agents who had let slip and grown emotionally attached to their targets. She recalled with fondness that it's the tone of voice she'd heard from Clint after a while. She tried to give a neutral answer, not wanting to poke and prod at the defensive former-god.

"Honestly? It was close. In terms of injury it's not so bad, he's got a broken leg and the suit pierced is skin in several place. But he fell unconscious and some of those cuts were quite deep. He nearly bled out before we got to him. He's much better after being given a transfusion but is still suffering from low circulation."

Loki didn't reply, and was quiet for a long time, staring down at the carpet with an almost blank look on his face. The little furrow between his eyes gave away the anxiety though, and Natasha wondered if he'd have let his emotions slip so visibly if he wasn't human. She highly doubted it.

After a while the last doctor came down, telling Natasha that Tony was conscious and his recovery plan was in his room. They then made their way upstairs to see him. Natasha strode straight in but Loki hung back at the door, reluctant to walk inside. He told himself it was because he did not want to walk in on a sick man without invitation, but deep down he knew it was because he didn't want to acknowledge he'd formed an undoubtedly human attachment to the injured man in question.

His hesitation did not last for long. After a few moments the call of "Hey Loki, stop loitering!" persuaded him to move into the room.

Tony grinned up at him from the bed, despite being incredibly pale and obviously tired. The circles under his eyes were pronounced and bandages covered his left shoulder and left wrist, a drip in his other wrist. Aside from the medical equipment the room seemed relatively normal for Midgardian décor, not clinical at all. Natasha was over the other side of the room reading through Tony's care notes.

"I did wonder if you'd come and visit me." Tony rambled. "I mean I know you hate me and all so I thought you'd want to congratulate me on being an idiot and almost dying. Seems like the sort of shit you'd pull. And maybe-"

"Tony be quiet." Natasha snapped, cutting him off. She looked up at Loki. "Confusion and anxiety are common signs of blood loss and in both of those circumstances Tony likes to talk. It would be appropriate to treat him as drunk."

"Hey that's unfair!" Tony exclaimed, wincing slightly as he tried to sit up further. "I'm totally in control when I drink. I'm practised enough." He stopped and looked up at Loki again. "You're quiet today."

"Well you hardly gave me room to speak." Loki countered, looking him in the eyes. A shiver ran down Tony's back.

"Doesn't usually stop you." The end of Tony's retort was slurred and his eyes briefly fluttered shut. Natasha looked round at him.

"Okay, I'm going to press the sedate button now. You need to sleep." She moved over towards the machine hooked up to the drip in Tony's other arm.

"Hey no! I don't want to sleep!" Tony slurred again.

"Exactly why I'm drugging you, you won't go voluntarily and your care plan calls for rest. Now go to sleep." She sighed, pressing the button.

"Night dears." Tony exhaled, levelling the most intense stare he could manage (not very) at Natasha. She shook her head and walked out of the room.

Loki looked at the man losing consciousness on the bed before him, sighing. "Go to sleep Stark." He said softly (_a little too softly_, he thought on reflection), before turning and walking out of the room, trying not to show his enormous relief that the billionaire, despite injury, was still his normal self.


	9. Chapter 9

That night Loki told himself firmly that he had been out of his mind being so soft, and resolved to stay away from Tony Stark. Really, his worrying had been ridiculous, the mortal survived in the end. Even so there was no use getting attached, when he'd gained his magic back he would be leaving this godforsaken rock immediately. The former god talked himself resolutely into avoiding the man from then on, and went to bed feeling confident in his decision on the matter.

Loki spent most of the next morning in his room, avoiding the team members that had arrived back in the early hours of the morning. His room was a much more inviting space to be in since he'd requested Stark redecorate, and the artfully patterned grey wallpaper offset the "lemon and line" themed furnishings. It was a typical Midgardian "modern" design but the darker colours made him feel more relaxed and he quite liked the vivid splashes of colour here and there. He tried not to think about how well Stark had guessed his tastes. Loki spent the time lying on his bed, reading more from the internet on the Stark Pad and generally learning more about everyday Midgardian life. He needed to seem relatively normal to his new co-workers at the café and would much rather learn from the internet than from those throughout the house. Their tendency to all bunch together was stifling. His one saving grace was that Thor could not be contacted, and remained away in Asgard.

It was around ten o'clock when Natasha knocked on Loki's door and insisted SHIELD wanted to talk to him about magic. He reluctantly agreed and moved cautiously into the living area where several men in suits were setting up a camera and recording equipment. They asked him to sit down and he did, knowing he was being recorded. The questions they asked were dull and predictable, things like "How do these creatures get their energy?"; "How do we penetrate the magical barriers around them?" and "What do you mean they're controlled by someone else?"

Without having been on the site there was very little Loki was able to tell them. He could say that they were conjured by another, but not anything about how it was done or how to fight them. In the end the short man interviewing him growled in frustration and told him he must be deliberately withholding evidence. Natasha tensed and saw red as Loki's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Can you not get it into your thick mortal skull that I do not know? Magic is a tangible energy, if I had been there the sensations in the air would have told me exactly how the creatures were created by feeling what strings of magic they and their actions were connected to. Magic_ is_ tangible; it needs to be felt to be learnt and controlled. Until you understand that and get someone able to feel magic you will not go anywhere with this line of enquiry. Now please desist with your whiny questions, I cannot help you any further."

Loki stood up and walked back to his room, an air of disgust present in his stature. The interviewer went to call after him but after catching eye contact with Natasha decided not to push the former god. Natasha followed Loki and stopped him before he could lock himself in his room. He was short tempered and irritable, but she managed to persuade him to come for a walk with her, to clear his head and drop off his application form at the cafe.

* * *

"I know the questions are irritating but you're the only one on the planet with practical magical experience." Natasha said lightly as they strode across the street. Loki looked completely at home amongst the cars rushing round the city.

"That will not stop me finding it irritating." Loki muttered as he walked.

"Well, you don't seem to find me or Tony that annoying." She said lightly, turning to watch his face. She saw eyes wince ever so slightly when she said Tony's name, though Natasha couldn't detect how his stomach twisted suddenly at the name. Loki hid the panic fluttering through his chest at his own unexpected reaction.

"Stark is irritating." Loki said, not elaborating any further. He tried to change the subject. "You however are generally quiet, and have an appreciation for deception."

"In my line of work I have to." Natasha said blankly. "There is no room for honesty."

"I prefer to operate that way as well. It's a shame Thor is unable to appreciate it."

Natasha paused, "I can imagine the "family fight together" speeches now." she admitted. The spy returned to her preferred line of questioning. "Thor definitely strikes me as being suspicious of outsiders; however me and Tony were both outsiders."

"But both you and he seem to have managed to get along fine." Loki said, noticing the subject matter she was trying to broach.

"That's true. I imagine Tony had it slightly harder than I did, he had the eyes of the world on him growing up. Being the son of a famous billionaire has its perks but definitely has its disadvantages." Natasha watched Loki's reaction carefully. He kept his face as blank as possible as they crossed another street, weaving between traffic, though he was thinking quite fast about the new information he'd just gained. He spoke slowly.

"I feel much the same way. The eyes of Asgard were upon me as the youngest prince. I was continually compared to and judged against Thor." His tone turned slightly bitter towards the end of that sentence.

Attempting to broach the subject again Nat lightly replied, "You and Tony appear to have many parallels."

Loki sighed. The line had been open-ended and definitely required a response. He looked ahead confidently and said "It appears we do", making it painfully obvious he was not open to any further enquiries of this nature.

Natasha felt a sense of triumph in confirming that Tony was such a sensitive subject. She resolved to carry on questioning another day, shelved her curiosity and continued on towards the cafe.

By the time they had dropped the papers off and arrived back at the tower Loki had felt relatively calm, however felt panicked again when Steve revealed Tony had been asking for him. He put off going to see Tony for as long as possible, stopping to eat lunch and read a while, before cautiously moving upstairs towards the bedroom in which Tony was lying.

* * *

"Has anyone else found it strange to see how willing Loki is to just sit round the house now?" Clint asked, picking at the tip of an arrow on the kitchen counter. "I mean before we left he wouldn't come out of him room, now he's just on the sofa reading when I walk into the room. It's fucking weird man."

"It is oddly unsettling." Steve agreed from the sink where he was washing up _("I know you have a dishwasher Tony but the instructions say rinse plates off before putting them in")._ He looked across as Natasha walked into the room. "Nat, what exactly happened while we were away that made Loki so nice?"

"Tony. Tony happened." was Natasha's response as she moved to sit at the bar next to Clint. The two men looked at each other with bewildered expressions before turning back to look at her.

"What exactly did the bastard do?" Clint asked.

"He was happy to indulge what Loki wanted, listened to his stories, took him out to the cafe, let him ask questions in the lab," She paused and looked up at them. "I think it might be a cause for concern, actually. Our trickster has developed quite an affectionate streak where Tony is involved; I saw how concerned he was for his welfare last night."

"You're not seriously suggesting Rudolph made a friend?" Clint laughed, but fell silent at the look on Natasha's face.

"We need to be careful, keep an eye on them. Tony is reckless at the best of times and the thought of those two together makes me uneasy. I wouldn't put it past the bastard to get interested and help plan Loki's next crazy scheme."

"Well," Steve suggested, "I don't think it's worth going to Fury about this, it's not that much a cause for concern yet. We just need to keep an eye on them until we're sure something is definitely wrong here."

"Well Fury basically told us we had to deal with any temper tantrums the tricky little shit pulled. Why is it surprising we have to deal with Tony too?" Clint shook his head. "I think it's time for a drink."

* * *

Loki approached the door slowly, peeking round to see Tony sitting upright on the bed, his finger moving furiously fast over the high-tech screen in his lap. There were still heavy dark circles under his eyes, and his brows were slightly furrowed, a small crease between them as he stared at the screen. Loki didn't have long to look however, as Tony quickly became aware of his presence. He really wasn't as stealthy in this human body as he was used to.

"Hey there Rudolph, I was wondering when you'd come to visit again." He said cheerfully; face lighting up slightly at the sight of his guest. "Sorry I was so out of it last time. Side effect of saving the world, you know?"

Loki smiled at him, a part of him quite enjoying the way Tony's whole face had brightened when he walked in. "It was incredibly amusing actually. Your babbling was quite endearing." The words were out of his mouth before he'd even thought about it, and Loki cursed internally as Tony's eyebrow rose.

"Endearing?" he said with a smirk. Loki searched for an appropriate response.

"Like an infant, stupid and helplessly dependent." He smirked back.

"Oh come on now, that's not me. I'm totally independent." Tony said lazily.

"Oh really," said Loki as me moved further into the room, standing at the base of Tony's bed now with his hand resting on the rails, "Exactly how long can you survive without your assistants and secretaries?"

The expression on Tony's face fell. "I'm surviving now aren't I?" he said, more to himself than to Loki. Loki knew the safe thing to do would be to change the subject, but oh was he interested now.

"I did wonder where your assistant was." Loki mused, completely ignoring the look of discomfort it brought up on Tony's face. "Where did she disappear to in the two weeks I was being sentenced in Asgard?"

"I really don't want to talk about it." Tony sighed.

"Oh but I'm curious now!" Loki moved to sit into the seat next to Tony's bed, sitting forwards on it and leaning towards him. Tony groaned as he came close. "I really would like to know, and I'm unlikely to stop asking until I get an answer." His smile was sickeningly sweet and Tony knew he'd have to just come out and say it.

"Jesus, Okay. We split up and she's living in Miami now, running the company from there. Are you happy now?"

"Yes actually." Loki said as he sat back in the chair, still smiling sweetly.

"Well good for you." Tony's voice was angry and his face stayed deep set in a scowl, refusing to look at Loki. He picked up the tablet and started playing with it again. Loki saw the blatant hint to leave and ignored it, instead watching Tony with an amused expression.

After a while Tony slammed the tablet down and looked across at him "Well are you going to leave or what?"

"Or what, actually. You're the one who was craving my company, according to the Captain." Loki looked incredibly smug.

"Hey you're alright when you're not being a dick, not when you're asking questions just to be difficult. If you're going to be such an ass you can fuck off Rudolph."

"Well someone is feeling sensitive. Really, what did you expect of me?" Part of Loki was feeling more than a little disappointed now. "Did you expect me to turn into a happy fairy just because you smile at me?" (He didn't mention the fact that the smile really had brightened his mood.) "You'll have to try harder than that, Man of Iron."

"I was hoping being human would make you less of a dick." Tony muttered bitterly.

"God of Chaos, Lies and Mischief, what did you think you were letting yourself in for?"

"I suppose." He paused for a minute. The tension in the room slowly dissolved as they say quietly. "As the god of lies, I don't suppose you'd be willing to sneak me up a pizza and not tell the others? I hate all this healthy crap they're putting me on. I feel like a rabbit. I don't even care what toppings, surprise me."

"And what will I get in return?" Loki asked thoughtfully.

"My undying love?" Tony joked. Loki's eyebrows rose. "I don't know. I'll think of something later."

"Deliberately putting yourself in debt to me. Well now I really do doubt your intelligence." Loki looked at him incredulously.

"I've never been known for my good decisions; I thought you'd know that much about me at least." Tony smirked. "And I'm too bored to care now anyway."

Loki smiled, "As you wish." He stood up and moved to the door. Tony smiled and talked aloud, but whether it was aimed at Loki or himself Loki couldn't tell.

"Yeah, god knows what I was expecting from you. But I'll tell you what it wasn't pizza."

Loki laughed out loud, for the first time in a long time. He smiled back at Tony and then walked out the door.

* * *

Sorry I've been taking so long to update. School work and stuff, you know? I am also working on other writing projects, but I promise not to abandon this one.


	10. Chapter 10

Loki hated working within five minutes of walking into the café again the next morning. He was made to wear clothes that were uncomfortable and ill-fitting and was taught to use basic Midgardian machinery by an old woman who treated him like an imbecile. Throughout the first hour no one came into the shop, and so the crone pretended to place orders and made him make them. Loki hated her tone, she talked to him like a child, and by the time her shift ended at midday he was having to try very hard to stay positive and not commit murder. Eventually however the door opened and the young girl he'd met first time there walked in, dancing along to her iPod.

"Hey Ellie, come over here and take over teaching Luke to use the machine, will ya'?" The old woman shouted, too loud for the small room. Ellie nodded as she moved into the back room do dump her bags. She came back in smiling at the murderous look on Loki's face.

"'s alright Vera I'll take over from here. You get home now." She shuffled the old woman out of the shop as soon as possible, and once the door closed behind her she swung herself onto the barstool behind the counter and looked up at Loki. "So how far have you got with this? You covered the dishwasher yet?"

"Yes. I have covered the dishwasher." He said impatiently, voice edging on a snarl. She didn't miss the hostility.

"Okay, okay. How about I write you out a list of things to do, and I'll help you if and only if you get stuck. Just do all the things on it and then we can call your training over."

"That sounds much better." Loki bit out. Truthfully, he felt much better now the condescending old woman had gone, but he was still annoyed.

He worked his way through a list of chores slowly but surely. A young couple came in and ordered two lattes, which Loki dutifully made while Ellie watched. He handled everything quickly and efficiently and handed them over with a smile, making the customers smile back. After they had finished and left, Ellie turned to him as he cleared up.

"Wow, you're really good with people." She said, watching him quietly. He just nodded and returned to washing up, bad mood mostly dissipated at this point. She sat quietly for a while, not finding the need to make too much conversation which Loki found he appreciated. It didn't last forever, however.

"Hey, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm kind of curious," she asked. "On your application form it says quite clearly your name is Luke, but that wasn't what you said when I asked you last time you were here." She studied him intently.

Loki was surprised by her observation. "You don't miss anything do you?" he asked.

"Well, you're pretty noticeable." Ellie blurted out. She seemed to speak before thinking, and then shuffled awkwardly.

He turned and looked her in the eye. "Oh really?" he asked with a smirk. He couldn't help but notice the red blush creeping into her cheeks at his stare. After a moment's hesitation she waved it off as casually as possible.

"Well, you know. Tall dark English stranger and all. Don't get those around here pretty often."

"I suppose." He mused, letting his amusement show on his face.

"So what is your name then, and why did you say what you said last time?" She said, returning back to her original topic.

"My name is Luke. Loki is a, uh, nickname of mine."

"Loki. That's cool. Can I use it?" she asked, flicking a strand of red hair out of her face.

Loki nodded "If you'd like." He turned to put a clean glass back on the shelf, but didn't miss the smile on her face (or the eyes that roamed the length of his back appreciatively as he stretched his arm up).

Loki turned back at her. "Well last time I was here the coffee machine was broken. Where did you get the funds for that then?" he asked.

"Oh, that was really weird actually. We had a visit from Tony Stark." Loki's eyebrows shot up. "Yeah, I know. We don't get that many normal people let alone celebrities. He just came in and asked about it and then offered to pay for a new one. It was the morning after you first came in, actually."

"What a coincidence." Loki said quietly, more to himself that to her. She smiled again before looking at the clock.

"Well, it's nearing two. That means we'll have Annie and Dave coming in for their regulars. Let me teach you how build the perfect whipped cream mocha."

* * *

The following week was relatively uneventful. Loki took various foods up to Tony's room on a daily basis. He knew that the rest of the tower had worked out what he was doing, but nobody mentioned it. Up in Tony's room they talked about anything and everything, quite often discussing new things Loki had learnt about humanity from the internet or from work. This led onto various conversations about Tony's favourite films, books and music. On Wednesday morning Tony was very surprised to find that Loki had taken on board his recommendations from the day before and actually watched a couple of the films (even if he did pick apart every plot and character flaw possible).

By Thursday Tony was allowed to wander about, no longer confined to his room, and Loki joined him in his lab sitting and talking just like the usually did, except with Tony tinkering with screens as they discussed things. Inevitably, the conversation soon turned to science, and Tony was pleased that Loki was willing to listen and try to understand the projects he was working on. The former-god might not have been up to date on his earth technology but he was intelligent, and caught on pretty well. Their conversations were generally quite engaged, though neither man wanted to let it show too plainly how enthusiastic they felt. Though Loki did often slide back into being cold and distant once prompted into an interesting topic the conversation flowed smoothly, even if it was punctuated with snarky and sarcastic comments contributed and enjoyed from both sides.

The other Avengers weren't oblivious to this of course. They discussed it on a regular basis but always came up with similar conclusions to beforehand; that until something sinister happened there wasn't anything to worry about. They did resolve to try and talk to Loki more though, in an attempt to give him more friends than just Tony. Loki still remained wary of them, not entering into sustained conversation with anyone but Tony or Natasha. He even started to avoid the latter towards the end of the week, as she was always trying to question him on the time he spent with Tony. Truthfully, Loki wasn't thinking too hard about the time he was spending with the man. He felt like Tony was the only person within the tower who could withhold a semi-intelligent conversation, and the billionaire wasn't afraid to mock Loki or ask him sensitive questions, which was refreshing as everyone else still seemed to treat him like he was made of ice. They persisted in asking him questions and making awkward conversation whenever he was within the communal living quarters, though they seemed perfectly able to sit with each other and not feel the need to make conversation. In the end apart from going to see Tony or being at work, Loki started retreating to his rooms again for the most part.

Work went smoothly as well, Loki went in for his weekday shift on the Tuesday and Thursday evenings. On Tuesday he was joined by Angie the manager, who was kind-hearted and didn't talk down to Loki at all, instead just chatting with customers or reading some of the books around the shop. Thursday he was joined again by Ellie. She was suitable company for the evening, the long periods of silence punctuated by bursts of chatter about anything and everything. It was mindless and fun, though Loki did feel like her insistent questions would become an issue sooner rather than later. She said that if she went too far he had full permission to tell her to "shut it", but there was never a way to avoid being asked everything. First she asked about life back in England, which he was able to provide suitably vague answers for (having never been to the place), then she asked about his favourite books. He came up with answers enough to satisfy, pulling up information from the conversations he'd had with Tony, but vowed to go and read up on both topics when he had the time.

The Avengers made sure to come and check up on Loki when he was at work. Natasha and Clint came in together on the Tuesday evening. Natasha seemed relatively calm and normal but Clint was acting as the most irritating customer he could, spilling his drink and making Loki clear it up. He looked very smug with himself until the next day when Loki spiked his morning coffee with strong chili, which made everyone laugh but Clint. On the Thursday evening Steve walked in as Loki was being teased by Ellie about being English and was very eager to report back to the other Avengers how non-threatening he'd been in reply, laughing and teasing her back about trivial things like the fact her roots were showing under her red hair dye as it grew out.

In return, Ellie made some pretty cutting observations about Loki, and just as with Stark he didn't find it irritating but instead rather refreshing to not be handled like glass. It did however, later that night once he was getting into bed, get him thinking about his new life in more depth than he had done all week. In the end Loki just had to conclude that he really was forming quite the strong friendship with a certain Tony Stark, he certainly found the man incredibly intriguing, and realised that he had no plans to stop spending time with him any time soon. Loki tried to focus on the interest and attraction hours spent talking with Tony brought him, doing his best to ignore the rotting sense of self-disappointment in the pit of his stomach that his pride had barely lasted a few weeks before he was feeling and displaying utterly human emotions.

* * *

_Chapter 10! This is the first time I've hit double figures writing anything. I know this story is kind of silly and riddled with flaws and completely self-indulgent for me but it's the hardest I've ever worked on something outside of school and I'm so grateful to every person that reads it. I love you all._


	11. Chapter 11

***sheepishly dusts off fic* I'm sorry for the month wait. If it makes it any better, this is almost twice the length of some of my earlier chapters.**

* * *

On the Sunday Tony was allowed to leave the hospital room completely. By most people's standards he would have been allowed to return to a relatively normal life, but normal for Tony involved getting very little sleep and copious amounts of alcohol, which the Avengers were very determined to avoid for at least another fortnight. It was decided he needed a couple of weeks of rest by normal standards. Still, he managed to persuade the others to let him go out to dinner to celebrate on the promise that he would limit his drinking and be back home by 10. Tony surprised them all by not bothering to argue about it, confessing to Loki as they talked in the lab that morning that he would rather get out than stay locked in the house any longer.

Loki was as surprised as the rest of the Avengers however when Tony later asked if he could take him out to dinner alone. Loki had expected Tony to go with the rest of the heroes, or even maybe invite him as part of a group; he had not expected to be invited out singularly. Tony had asked Loki when everyone was in the kitchen together (having just come in from an Avengers meeting about the length of Tony's absence), and Loki did a slight double take along with everyone else.

"Me? Are you sure?" Loki asked sceptically, raising one eyebrow and trying to look cool about it, secretly wondering about Tony's motives in asking him. There was something entirely different about spending a few hours talking with someone mindlessly in a lab or by a bed and being seen out publically with them.

"Well y'know, I thought it would be a decent way to say thanks for keeping me company this past week. You're the only visitor I've had who hasn't used my stint stuck in bed to try and lecture me on something they couldn't pin me down to talk about beforehand. Plus you know; the food." He looked round, "Though I do appreciate that no one else bothered to stop him, you must have realised where the Doritos were disappearing to." He was met with collective nods.

There was a pause, and Loki could feel every eye in the room on him as they waited for his answer. He made his decision, straightened up and looked at Tony. "Well, it might be nice to get out of this god forsaken tower."

Tony smiled at him. "Excellent."

* * *

Three hours later Loki shuffled slightly behind Tony as the two of them walked into the restaurant, Tony prattling on about his favourite places to eat. Loki tried to keep his apprehension about the evening to a minimum but it was hard to balance the worries streaming through the back of his mind. It wasn't long before Tony noticed the lack of enthusiasm in Loki's responses, having spent so much time with him during the week he was beginning to catch up on Loki's more subtle reactions.

"What's wrong Rudolph, never been on a dinner date before?" Tony asked cheerfully, thinking with characteristic bluntness as they were led to a secluded seat at the back.

"Of course I have!" Loki snapped into Tony's ear before he could think. There was no way of brushing off the irritation he felt now; his tone of voice had said it plainly.

Tony looked at him over his unnecessary sunglasses as they sat down. "Well what's the issue then?"

"I just-," Loki paused, finding it difficult to hide his worry when Tony was looking at him with such interest and furthermore wondering why he was worried in the first place, "There are bound to be journalists around a restaurant as classy as you keep stating this one is. Will someone not recognise me? I don't particularly fancy being on the front of your newspapers only a few weeks after attempting to dominate the planet."

"Nah it'll be fine", Tony said lightly. "People come here for privacy; it's a discreet enough place about celebrity customers. It's the sort of place big city bankers come with their mistresses."

"Well heaven forbid people think I'm your mistress." Loki said lightly but behind the mask he was processing Tony's words whilst trying to squash a hint of panic. _Dinner date_. Loki had concluded that the intentions of the evening were perfectly innocent, but now his stupid human brain was reading a potential double meaning into everything Tony said.

Tony changed the subject pretty quickly again, as he often did, talking to Loki constantly about the other faces he recognised on the tables around them and bringing up all the scandalous stories he could think of. Loki was mildly entertained and relaxed somewhat as they ordered and ate, though he was unable to relax entirely. After dithering on the subject internally for a while, he decided to try and approach it directly.

"Well I must say it's very nice of you to invite me out tonight." He stated matter-of-fact, focusing on his plate and not looking at Tony directly. "You've been very generous to me of late."

Tony looked up at the abrupt change of subject. "Well you've been very nice to me recently. After we talked last week I thought it would take longer than this for you to thaw out. You know you're actually pretty fun to talk to when you're not being a power-crazy megalomaniac."

"I take that as a compliment." Loki smirked and Tony smiled. "Maybe it's precisely because you stopped expecting me to be nice. I do hate conforming to people's expectations."

"You just like being difficult."

"Unless people are expecting me to be difficult."

"Touché."

There was a pause as they both continued eating. After a minute Loki spoke: "I have also enjoyed the time we have spent together recently. I did not expect you to crave my attention so much." The sentence was light but the implied attraction was there in the joke. Tony prided himself on not being an idiot; he could tell Loki was after his motivation for asking him out.

"Well you know, you're the only one in the tower who didn't try and use my injury as an excuse to try and talk me into something, or try and lecture me. Sometimes it is refreshing to spend time with people who don't care. And anyway, this conversation works both ways. How come you've defrosted more for me than anyone else? I mean you've spent some time training with Nat and talking to her, but everyone else you just talk to in passing."

"Do you blame me?" Loki asked. "They all hate and disapprove of me. The dear captain treats me as if I'll commit genocide at any moment, Banner always avoids me completely (not that I blame him). Barton undoubtedly harbours some resentment towards me as I enslaved his mind but he's never around so I'm not entirely sure and my brother is the opposite, he smothers me with so much love and trust it's sickening. Natasha does seem more willing to talk with me but she still treats me somewhat as if I'm made of glass." He paused to take a sip of the wine in front of him, "It appears, Tony Stark, that I find it quite refreshing speaking to someone who isn't trying to coddle me into reforming."

"I've never liked treating people like children. Pepper always tries to get me to attend all sorts of alcoholism projects but I hate being condescended to by a bunch of self-righteous strangers telling me how to live my li-" He stopped, looking across as Loki, who was smiling at him. Realisation dawned across his face rather suddenly. "Shit. Having to live with us must suck."

Loki paused to eat a little more, then spoke lightly. "It is not the most pleasant of situations to have to live among you no. And I do not have such a definitive end goal to reach – there is no "stopping drinking". Because what exactly does "proving yourself reformed" entail for me? I do not know, and consequentially I do not know how I am expected to act. It's as if I'm expected to transform into a different and an intrinsically more good being."

"It can't be easy having to readjust your mindset completely. I wouldn't be able to do it." Tony admitted. "And after being turned human as well." There was another pause.

"Actually the humanity has made it somewhat easier" Loki admitted, wondering at this point if he was revealing too much. "The emotions I feel here are a lot stronger and affect my actions much more intensely. In Asgard I was cold and logical. Here I am bound my emotions. To a certain extent spending time with anyone who shows me kindness has made me warm to them, there is only so much resentment a Midgardian body can hold."

"So you love me because I'm nice to you?" Tony asked with a smirk. Loki snorted in resentment and finished the last mouthful of his dinner.

"Something like that." he answered eventually.

"I'll just have to keep feeding you compliments until I have you begging at my heels." Tony joked. Loki laughed at him.

"I highly doubt it. Don't let your ego get too large now, everyone knows it's inflated enough already."

"Hey I'm famous, I literally have women begging for a chance to sleep with me." Tony said seriously, downing the last of his last allowed glass of wine. "You should view yourself as privileged."

Both Tony and Loki paused at the phrasing of that last sentence. Tony realised pretty quickly what he had implied and looked into Loki's incredulous eyes. "N-not that you're in the line of people who want to sleep at me of course." Loki continued to stay silent, one eyebrow raising and finding amusement in Tony being flustered and trying hastily to rephrase. "Unless of course you do want to sleep with me, which is totally fine."

Loki's face changed again, this time looking shocked, confused and a little outraged.

"Okay erm, maybe you don't. Which is also fine. Whatever. I'm going to get the bill now. Waiter!" Tony called.

Loki sat with as blank and relaxed an expression as possible, though inside he was reeling. Well now, didn't that reveal some more of Tony's motives? He had all but blurted out that he felt some sexual desire towards Loki, or at least found him more attractive than the women he regularly went out with. Part of Loki felt very smug knowing that he was able to captive all areas of Tony's interest beyond just talking, and another part of him was panicking about his own human reactions again. Because the old Loki would have been disgusted at the idea of sexual interaction with a human but he just _wasn't._ In fact the idea of getting laid was actually rather appealing, and Tony wasn't unattractive. Loki knew that up in Asgard he had a shady reputation for his sexual exploits (the nickname "Whore of the nine realms" didn't come from nowhere) but he had tried to conquer and enslave this planet only a few weeks beforehand. Surely it was not right to now enjoy the idea of sleeping with its inhabitants?

Tony was trying equally hard to keep his poker-face on across the table as he paid. Usually he felt no qualms about declaring where he'd like his dick to go next but he had a feeling that Loki really wouldn't appreciate the gesture if he did declare his interest. Despite the chat they'd just had he did genuinely like the guy after the past week they'd spent together and wanted to spend more time with him and help him to stop being a dick. There was no denying that Loki was attractive but Tony thought the guy was convinced he was better than most humans, he was certain that Loki would take any attempts at sexual interaction as taking advantage of his now human state. It struck Tony quite suddenly that he really didn't want to lose his new friend, so he stayed clear of trails of thought which he thought would drive Loki away as he led them out of the restaurant to go home.

* * *

"Bye guys!" Ellie shouted at a couple leaving the cafe that had been in for their anniversary. After cleaning up the confetti she'd thrown for them Ellie slid up to Loki and he knew there were questions on the way from how she held herself and her hands shaking slightly indicating she was nervous about asking. One of the things that Loki liked about work was that he wasn't surrounded by people who had the level of charm and ability to hold a poker face that those in the tower had developed, whether through life in the public eye or through training. People here were much easier to manipulate and lie to.

"They're cute." She said, and then looked up at him. "If you don't mind me asking, are you seeing anyone?" The question was light but Loki wasn't stupid. He heard the hope behind Ellie's voice and almost cried internally at his ability to attract humans. He had noticed early on the signs of Ellie's attraction but had hoped early on she'd be too shy to act on it. He'd underestimated her.

"Not exactly." He said, going down the route he thought would drive her off most. He deliberately looked away from her, avoiding her eye contact to give the air of suddenly feeling shy.

"Oh?" She asked.

"There's someone I'd like to be seeing." He said, wondering which phrases would put her off most. He tried one of the first that came to his head. "But he doesn't know I care." He mumbled dejectedly, turning away from Ellie again to wipe the sides. _Please, let her get bored or embarrassed and move on._ Loki had heard about the recent opening of opinions on Midgard, but on most of his early visits to the planet homosexuality was punishable by death. He hoped attitudes hadn't changed too much and it was still enough to put her off being so determined to spend time with him.

"He?" Ellie asked. "You're gay then?" He saw the flicker of disappointment cross her face and felt a little triumphant.

"Yes, I am." Carrying on the act he looked up at her, showing worry on his face. "It's not a problem is it?"

"Oh no, not at all." She assured him. Loki smiled at first, but then felt disappointed as she didn't take the hint and carried on. "So, what's he like then, this guy that you like?"

"He's, uh, really intelligent." Loki said, not having expected this line of enquiry. Still, you didn't get anywhere as the god of lies without the ability to improvise.

"Oh come on, more than that!" Ellie smiled encouragingly at him (at least that's what she was aiming for, but it was a little over enthusiastic). "You've only lived here a few weeks, where did you meet him?"

Loki knew he was going to be pushed for details and so decided to stick to lies that were relatively close to the truth, hoping that they would be easier to remember. His mental capacity, through still fierce, wasn't as powerful as it was when he was a god and Loki found himself a little hazy on details sometimes. He also knew from experience the more specific details he put into lies the bore believable they seemed.

"He works at Stark industries." Loki lied easily, "That was somewhere I applied to work when I moved here, though they obviously did not employ me. He lives near my apartment and was the one that recommended the job to me."

"You see him on a regular basis then?" Ellie asked.

"Daily. We have spent quite some time together in my time off." Loki said lightly.

"What do you do together?" she asked again, excitedly. Loki smirked at her.

"Your questions never stop do they? We generally just talk together, though we've spent some time watching movies and I talk to him while he works." His voice was smooth as he moved around the café, starting to wipe tables so he didn't have to keep up the lovesick facial expressions he knew Ellie was expecting.

"Sorry, I'm curious." Ellie said. "One last question and then I'll shut up, will you tell him how you feel?" She asked. It was clear on her face she thought the question was a little on the personal side (and quite rightly too, it was) and Loki knew he had no obligation to answer. He did anyway.

"I hadn't intended to, I don't know." Loki paused, a look of deep thought on his face.

"Well you're not going to get together if he doesn't know you like him. Is it because you don't think he's gay?"

"That was another question."

"Sorry."

Loki swept his hair back out of his eyes. "I don't think that's an issue, I'm sure from our conversations that he's had previous partners of both sexes." Loki said without thinking, then wondering at which point in the conversation he had stopped discussing a fictional potential partner.

"Well what's the issue then?" Ellie asked. "If you feel like that about him, go for it. Either he'll say yes and you get him, he says no but is totally fine staying as friends and won't abuse it or he'll be disheartened or take advantage, in which case he's not worth having around anyway. That's my opinion." She said confidently, and then motioned sealing her lips to indicate she'd drop the subject now.

"I'll take it in mind." He said, turning back to the table. He certainly knew that Stark had an interest in him, he'd let that much slip at dinner. It was his own feelings Loki was still unsure of. After a while clearing tables with the same confused thoughts going round his head as had been the past few days he came to a conclusion: What did it matter what happened between himself and anyone on Earth? It was only a matter of time before he regained his god-status, as which point everything that happened here would become meaningless. It was nice to spend time with someone who appreciated his intellect and he'd already decided the prospect of sexual satisfaction was alluring, so when it came to Stark the solution was quite simple. _Why not_?


	12. Chapter 12

It was around midday that Tony had snuck out on the Thursday. Loki had left his lab after a couple of hours talking together that morning to go and train with Natasha and for Tony the urge to misbehave finally became overwhelming. He was quite proud that he lasted a whole five days actually. Despite any tension after the dinner date he had still spent time with Loki over the week, reflecting on the Sunday night as they discussed anything and everything including new developments to the suit. Part of Tony felt doubt about sharing his plans with the "bad guy", but he was mostly just pleased to have someone willing to listen to his technical jargon. Loki even had some constructive input; after all, the guy had several centuries of fighting experience behind him.

Tony's thoughts on Loki had not changed. He still thought Loki was attractive and certainly didn't stop himself admiring the view during the time they spent together (on several occasions asking Loki to hand him things from the other desk just to watch him stretch out to reach them) but he made no active moves on the man, only admiring him on an aesthetic and intellectual level. Tony had however noticed a change in Loki's behaviour towards him. Since Sunday he had seemed a little tense and slightly more withdrawn from Tony in conversation. It was only subtle but it was there. Tony hoped that letting slip his attraction wasn't too damaging, and took this withdrawal as proof that Loki would be put off if he made any definite moves. Therefore Tony made it perfectly clear with his actions that he would make no attempt to pursue Loki any further. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to protect Loki like this, after all the guy had been a god who tried to take over the world – he could surely handle someone wanting access to his pants. Loki had praised Tony for not treating him like glass and yet Tony was increasingly feeling the need to try and make Loki comfortable. In truth he was growing really rather attached to the guy and didn't want to lose his new best friend (though Tony would never admit this to anyone, least of all himself).

However, Tony Stark was still surrounded by a very attractive individual on a daily basis, and it was only so long before he felt the need for a good old fashioned night out to remind himself just how much he loved women. After leaving the building at midday on Thursday he went to his usual tailor, picked up a decent suit and found himself at some high class charity function. Never one for anonymity Tony soon found himself the centre of attention and drew everyone in with detailed descriptions of the very heroics that had gotten him injured in the first place. Many people came to listen and get his attention (as they always did) and he soon found himself surrounded by many opportunities to get laid. He chose to take home a blonde with whom he'd had a very stimulating conversation about the technology behind the arc reactor and he told himself it was a complete coincidence he spent the conversation gazing up her tall frame into her bright green eyes.

She talked intelligently the entire way home, not immediately ready to spread her legs for him. They had walked talking back to his rooms in the tower and had even sat and had a drink before actually sleeping together. It was something that he had not done with a one night stand for many years and he found himself wondering if talking with Loki was responsible for this sudden appreciation of conversation. It was a thought that sobered him somewhat and he told himself off for thinking about Loki in such a sexual situation, as his imagination inevitably started wondering where else he could put Loki's mouth to good use. As they eventually moved to the bed he firmly told himself how good it felt to be with a woman, focussing on the pleasure he could generate in all of the areas that a man did not possess, both for her and himself. However it was only as he led her out the next morning (trying to ensure she stayed relatively unnoticed to the other Avengers) that he decided that though she had been an extraordinary woman in her own right, he just hadn't found her satisfying.

* * *

Loki decided quite confidently after his conversation at work with Ellie on Thursday that he was going to make his interest known, planning to simply bring it up in conversation with Stark down in his lab. After all there was no point in being shy, it was just sex. He was also determined to make his move and establish them firmly as sexual partners before Thor came back. Loki loved the fact that his sexual exploits always wound up and frustrated his brother and couldn't wait to see his face when he realised Loki was sleeping with one of his beloved Avengers. Stark had shown no interest in dating anyone else while Loki had been staying there and from his comments Loki was convinced he would be able to persuade him into bed. In his change of heart Loki had convinced himself that his attraction to Stark was mostly physical, and that he just enjoyed talking with the man. Loki had always been a competent liar, and he was very good at lying to himself.

On Friday morning he sat in the kitchen finishing his waffles opposite to Steve and Natasha when a high pitched giggling sounded from the hallway. Loki and Steve looked up confused but Natasha just looked down at her food and sighed. Loki looked at her with confusion.

"I did wonder how long it would take." She explained. "I didn't expect Tony to show restraint."

Steve looked at her and realisation dawned on his face, his expression changing from confusion to an angry disappointment. "Already?" he sighed, "Stark will never learn that there are more important things in life than sex."

"Sex?" Loki questioned, but his brain was already realising what was going on.

"Yes. The sound of giggling from high class whores is usually the sign that Tony had a good time last night." Natasha sighed again. "Surely you know his reputation already?" she shot at Loki.

Loki shuffled a little in his chair and straightened up. "I am aware of his reputation yes. I did not expect to see him live up to it so soon though." Inside Loki was feeling rather downhearted. Tony had made it clear that he was attracted to him, did this mean he was getting bored and moving on? "And isn't he still rather soon after a break up?" Loki added.

Steve and Natasha exchanged surprised and meaningful looks. "Tony actually talked to you about Pepper?" Steve said incredulously. "He must have warmed to you more than we thought."

Loki was simultaneously incredibly pleased with the idea that Tony was confiding in him and taken aback at the knowledge that no one else had discussed this with him.

"Actually, Tony went out after his break up and had copious amounts of sex," Natasha explained to answer Loki's previous question, "he tends to sleep with people to try and forget. It never works but he insists on doing it anyway." She paused thoughtfully. "Not sure what he wants to forget this time though. I can't think of anything he's said or done that he would particularly regret."

Loki sat there quietly with mixed emotions. He felt pleased that Tony had talked to him when it was clear that he hadn't confided in anyone else, it gave Loki a sense of worth. This was weird in a way, it made him feel as though he was establishing himself here on Earth, and he didn't want to think too much about the fact that if everything went to plan it shouldn't be too long before he left all of these friendships behind. He also felt confused that Tony wanted to forget or block out something as Natasha had suggested. If Tony was confiding in Loki all of a sudden why hadn't Loki been able to figure out whatever it was he was avoiding? There was part of Loki that suspected the truth – that Tony wanted to block out his admission of attraction. But WHY was Loki's dilemma. His immediate assumption was that because he hadn't reacted positively immediately Tony had decided the interest wasn't worth it and moved on. Loki was aware Tony knew that Loki knew his motivations. Neither of them were stupid people and neither of them would admit that they both had trouble figuring out their own emotions, even if they could accurately map other people's.

Another part of Loki was filled with mostly unjustified rage. If Tony had moved on he was furious with the man for moving on so quickly, feeling that Tony was being unfair not giving him a chance to act. Or had he simply not acted quickly enough? He was still unused to his own emotional stature and found it hard to judge other human emotions as accurately as he had been able to when he was still an Asgardian. He felt angry that Tony was sleeping with someone that wasn't himself, which was caused by a jealously much more vicious and spiked than he was used to when he was still Asgardian. The thought of Tony spread below that blonde whore made his blood boil even though logic told him he had no personal claim to the man. He was irrationally angry at Tony for being so petty and changing his mind so quickly. Internally Loki called Tony a whore for his sexual exploits despite that fact that back home Loki had in fact been just as bad, if not worse. This in turn led him to be angry at himself for not realising and acting sooner on his confused attraction, which he blamed on his new humanity. It was a vicious circle in his head. For the thousandth time since landing on Earth Loki led himself to his room blaming his humanity for all the problems he currently had, deciding that if he could do nothing else useful today he might as well do back to bed, as he seemed constantly sleep deprived as a human.

After a while of fretting Loki discovered the thoroughly human problem of not being able to turn his brain off for long enough to sleep. The more he thought about it the more the hate grew inside his head until all of the negative feelings he held were directed towards himself and his inability to see past his humanity. He paused for a moment and wondered how the humans managed to achieve anything if they were always experiencing this level of self-loathing. He marched determinedly down to the training levels he had spent time in with Natasha and blindly attacked some punch bags until his body was sore and numb. Loki still felt negative though and wondered what he could do that was less physical but equally draining. In a moment of sick revelation he grabbed the bow and arrow from the far wall and opened up the shooting range; only to see the same mannequin of himself that he had been presented with the first time he had come into this room. He pulled the bow up to aim squarely for between the eyes and fired.

The shot missed slightly, going into the side of the head. It was slightly comic to see the arrow sticking out at an odd angle but Loki found a sick satisfaction in being able to punch a hole in himself. He had always been limited by self-doubt and had pushed his guilt down over the centuries, telling himself not to think about the consequences. It was only when falling through space after falling off the bi-frost that he had had time for self-reflection and he'd ended up hating what he found. When the Chitauri found him Loki was so bent with self-loathing that it did not take much to manipulate his weakened and fragile mind, and then he failed again and was cast down here. It was such a fast rollercoaster, now that he had time to think Loki was drowning in hatred for himself. The loathing of his weak human actions of late had opened up the entire floodgates and now he could now stop, only able to think the thoughts that he had always blocked. He cursed the way he had always been so selfish with an arrow to the thigh, something he never would have felt guilty about as an Asgardian. He cursed the way he had failed himself and the people he cared about time and time again with an arrow to the shoulder. And he cursed the way the willpower he had always been so proud of had shattered when he handed to earth, landing a blow to the heart.

Loki finally found himself emotionally exhausted and drained enough and fell to the floor in a heap, letting the bow fall and finally letting the tears come. What had started as a brief frustration over Tony's sleeping habits had grown into a torrent of negativity finally breaking through his carefully constructed mental barriers, and in the end the realisation of what he had become had just been too much.


	13. Chapter 13

In the café Loki worked very quietly with Ellie. After he had collected himself on the Friday afternoon he had gone straight to bed, physically and emotionally drained enough to sleep over fourteen hours. When he had woken up there had only been a short amount of time left before he had needed to leave for work, which he had used to shower and eat a little. Now he sat in the mostly empty café while Ellie was counting stock out the back. Steve had come in for coffee again to check up on him and Loki had served him blankly, waiting for him to finish his coffee and crossword puzzle and leave. Steve had done soon enough and Loki was left alone with his thoughts for the first time since his breakdown. He actually wasn't as reflective as he thought he might have been, still feeling numb from the weight of emotion from the previous day. He let himself zone out blissfully. Ellie noticed how quiet he was and related it back to their last serious conversation.

She shuffled up to him timidly. "So how did it go? Talking to that guy you like?" She talked softly and Loki could see she was being cautious. Loki thought about lying but then lost the motivation to do so. _What was the point_?

"I didn't in the end. Yesterday I saw him with a girl with whom he'd obviously had sex. He was leading her out." Loki let his head fall forwards and hit the counter. _Why, why was he confiding in a Midgardian adolescent? _He tried to reason with himself that she was innocent enough that she would not have any reason to suspect his interest's true identity, even though he knew with each passing day and each clue he let slip that this was becoming less and less likely.

Ellie did not answer immediately, instead coming over and placing a hand on Loki's shoulder. With his head still down on the desk he stiffened in surprise, but relaxed somewhat when she started massaging across the top of his back lightly.

"I'm sorry." She said. Loki had assumed his anger at Tony was completely illogical, it certainly would have been treated as such on Asgard, but she seemed sympathetic. "I know it doesn't seem like the most appealing option but you could ask him if he has any intentions towards her. No matter what he says it could provide you with an opportunity to tell him how you feel."

Loki sat up and looked at her. "I know he does not have any serious intention towards anyone, she appeared to be just a one night stand. I still feel angry though." He admitted, shame burning through is veins at voicing it out loud.

Instead of being turned away she rubbed his back a little harder to show more sympathy. "I know what it's like to see someone you fancy enjoying themselves with someone else. No matter how little claim you have to them you always feel as though it should be you pulling them into bed."

"Jealously is repulsive." Loki spat, the look on his face black. In his head he was indeed now fantasising about pulling a certain inventor into bed and he didn't know whether he enjoyed it or it made him feel worse.

Ellie sighed. "Well, if you can find a way to just turn it off let me know. You'd be a billionaire." Her eyes glazed over and she looked away from him, and Loki remembered in a moment of clarity that she had felt attracted to him and most likely still did. She had probably felt the same spark of jealously he was currently feeling when he had admitted to having feelings for someone else, and he let his head fall forwards again at the self-loathing inspired by the thought that he was inflicting these feeling not only upon himself but upon another as well.

Ellie didn't see the reasoning behind this though and presumed it was still about his unknown interest. She gave him a supportive smile. "Come on, we can't let any customers see you like this, we have to be semi-professional." She disappeared and came back with a glass of water for him. When he had sat up and grudgingly drank it she looked him in the eye and spoke firmly.

"So. You know that he isn't going to go any further with this woman and therefore he is still available. When are you going to tell him?"

"I don't know." Loki sighed. "But I promise I will eventually. Even if just to stop you talking." He gave her a weak smile and she smiled back. He was struck quite suddenly by how open and friendly she was to him even though he had by rights been quite rude and dismissive of her at times. The Avengers that he had been living with in the tower all had dark histories but this completely innocent human girl stood out to him as the first truly good human he had met. She had her own petty little human problems and stresses but tried to be a good person simply for the purpose of being good, not for the purpose of making up for anything in her past, which he felt was a large part of the motivations behind those he was living with. He thought back to his conversation with Natasha on S.H.I.E.L.D's helicarrier during the invasion. _Something that makes up for the horrors, but they are part of you, and they will never go away._ Why did that feel like it applied even more to himself than to her at this moment?

Ellie spent the rest of the afternoon trying to keep conversation positive and upbeat. She asked him about his interests and Loki responded accordingly with topics he'd learnt about from his ongoing Earth Education. He had lost track of the number of Wikipedia pages he'd trawled through reading up about people and places and media enough to scrape by when questioned like this. It was actually quite refreshing to be challenged and he found it therapeutic to be asked. He left the café distracted from most of his negative feelings and made sure to thank Ellie sincerely for entertaining and trying to comfort him before he said goodbye.

* * *

Natasha gave Tony 24 hours after the giggle in the hallway before going to confront him about sleeping with someone while he was supposed to be avoiding strenuous activity. She had thought about leaving the subject but had found the video footage from the gym on the previous afternoon. Natasha had been watching the relationship between Tony and Loki rather carefully and held Tony personally responsible for Loki's breakdown, the former god having been fine until he had heard _the giggle_. She also understood well enough that it may only have been the tip of the iceberg for Loki's emotional state but it was not fair on Loki that Tony, his only real friend here, had managed to trigger the breakdown.

Natasha was proud of her honed ability to detect how people were feeling and to manipulate it, it was her occupation and she was an expert. She often felt frustrated at the inability of those around her to think about their own deeds and the consequences they would have. Watching the relationship between the tower's two self-loathing narcissists develop had been an interesting procedure, and she was well aware that neither of them were experts in the emotional field. Loki may have had manipulative abilities similar to hers back on Asgard but here he was clumsy and confused and things were easily let slip, while Tony had always been emotionally blind.

She walked down into Tony's lab and smirked when she punched in the right key to completely override the security system and let herself in. Tony saw the door slide open and swore, telling Jarvis to cut the loud music and mentally reminding himself to change the code later.

"Natasha, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He said, fake smile plastered across his face. Natasha's visits were never just friendly, there was always some ulterior motive behind them and he always left them feeling rather confused.

She gave him an equally sickly-sweet fake smile back. "Don't play dumb with me Tony how long did you think you'd get away with it? You're supposed to be avoiding strenuous activity."

"Oh come on please try and tell me you're not proud of me for lasting as long as I did." He threw his hands up in defeat. "So what are you going to do, take away my toys? Really the only person affected by this is me and my healing muscles."

"I'll let you continue to think that." She said plainly, still staring straight at him to both observe his actions and unnerve him slightly. Both were very effective on most people but Tony was getting rather good at shrugging off the second.

He met her gaze. "So how exactly do my sleeping habits affect life within my tower?"

"You're a clever man, I'm sure you'll work it out. Just think a little more about the emotional consequences of what you're doing to those around you."

Tony frowned at first but he put two and two together rather quickly. "You're saying someone here gets a little jealous when I go out? Natasha please I know I'm attractive but-"

"You know full well I have no interest in you; I refuse to stroke your overly-inflated ego. Just work it out; if I have to live with this tension any longer it's going to give me grey hairs." She shook her head a little then switched to a topic she knew would catch his attention. "Anyway, I have other things to discuss with you. Pepper is coming in tomorrow around midday and you need to see her to sort out company business."

Tony had been absentmindedly playing with the monitors but at this point his hands stopped and he paused for breath, closing his eyes momentarily to steady himself. After a beat he asked "Do I have to?" It sounded pained and Natasha felt sorry for him despite herself, Pepper was certainly formidable.

"Yes, you do have to speak to her. It'll be half an hour and then she'll be gone." Natasha stated firmly.

Tony's head hit the desk and he groaned somewhat like a melodramatic child. As much as Natasha found him ridiculous she did sympathise. Meeting with your ex was never easy, it must be incredibly difficult when they both run your company and are as powerful and intimidating as Miss Potts.

"I'll tell you what," Natasha said, coming up with an idea that would kill two birds with one stone, "Tomorrow night we'll all sit round and have drinks. Laugh, have fun, that thing that normal people do. It'll take your mind off it."

Tony was genuinely put out by this sudden apparent kindness. "Alright?" He said, sitting up again.

"Good." She said, and hopped off the bench and walked towards the exit.

Tony called out to her "Won't getting drunk also counteract my recovery schedule?"

Before she got to the door she turned back. "Actually no, I think it might do some good. And please do some work in here that I can tell Fury is Avengers related."

Once she'd gone Tony sat and thought about what she'd said. He was dreading seeing Pepper tomorrow, having not done so since they broke it off and she flew out to go settle company business. He tried to avoid thinking about it too closely or he knew he wouldn't sleep. Instead he tried to decipher her hint about someone in the tower being emotionally affected by his one night stands, and had the sense to link it to her proposed little drinking party the next night. One of his first thoughts was that he'd have to be careful how much he drank because he didn't want to upset Loki again, as Loki had been tense since their... he froze.

But no, surely not? The possibility of Loki being jealous ran through his head and Tony laughed, able to see how it was actually a rather plausible solution. He still doubted it though, mainly because he didn't think Loki would be shy about attraction. After all if sex wasn't covered under the title of "God of Mischief" then what was? Tony chewed over the issue in his head for a while and in the end came to a conclusion: either way when the alcohol was out he'd probably find his answer.


	14. Chapter 14

Tony downed an entire glass of expensive single malt in one and went straight in to refill it again. He had just joined Natasha, Bruce and Loki in the living room for their promised drinks. It was the first time he'd seen Loki since sleeping with his one night stand and his suspicions about Loki's feelings were still there, the former god had been finding excuses to avoid him ever since. In general Loki had been avoiding everyone and staying in his room apart from when he went to work. Natasha had talked him into joining them tonight though, challenging him to test his human alcohol tolerance. As an Asgardian he would never have risen to such a petty challenge but the prospect of indulging Natasha just for the sake of pleasing her was rather large. On accepting he had marvelled at how much he'd changed since being here already. The genuine care for Tony, the appreciation of Ellie as a person and the good feeling from pleasing people were all completely counteractive to his former character and he wasn't sure if he was comfortable with it.

Loki looked up across at Tony at the end of his sofa as the inventor started his second glass. Loki had been told by Natasha earlier on that day that Tony had met with Pepper, though he hadn't seen the man: Tony had locked himself firmly in his lab after that. Loki still felt strongly emotionally attached to Tony and the idea of the inventor sitting alone hurting amongst his machines genuinely moved him. Loki was very tempted to go and try and comfort him, to mirror the kindness that Ellie had shown him yesterday, but pride and the fear that Tony would go off and sleep with someone else again after an emotional encounter with Pepper held him back. That would just make him even more unfairly angry at the man and would be completely counterproductive in helping him.

"So it went that well then?" He said smoothly across the sofa to Tony, trying to broach the subject lightly but failing. Tony looked up at Loki and couldn't bring himself to shoot a witty comment back, simply shaking his head and smiling sadly.

"If only you knew Rudolph." He stared quietly into the coffee table without really seeing it. Truth is the encounter had been awful. Pepper had refused to call him anything other than "Mr Stark" and there had been no emotion shared at all, it had been brittle and tense. It was something he'd never really experienced much with Pepper, even when she was angry with him before there had always been genuine feeling present. Loki looked across at Natasha, realising his phrasing had been a little harsh and trying to think of a way to make amends. He cursed himself for cocking things up so early on in the evening.

"I need to ask you something actually Tony, and Bruce this applies to you as well if you're on board," she said confidently, "Fury wants you to try and work on some sort of complex advanced warning defence system to cover major cities from paranormal threats. New York to begin with but then going nationwide if it works."

"Can we not talk about work, please." Tony said, forcibly strengthening himself and trying to look cheerful. "Let's talk about something less serious."

"Fury needs you to start work on this." Natasha insisted, "if you want to or not. We can't have another alien invasion like the last, the country isn't strong enough."

Everyone threw sideways glances towards Loki, who was slumped on the opposite sofa in a dark shirt and skinny jeans looking utterly unthreatening with a glass in his hand. Loki just shrugged. "I did what I did for a reason, at the right time it was the right choice."

"It was the right choice to try and enslave a planet?" Natasha said coolly. Loki looked back at her and fixed a harsh stare.

"I had no intention of harming the population; I only killed those in my way. It was certainly a better alternative to what I had been subjected to at the hands of the Other." There was a tense silence in the air for a moment as everyone thought but refused to voice the same question. Loki was not stupid, he realised the tension was in the air and closed the matter.

"Let's just say I do not want to think about those experiences. Either way they would not happen again. If they found me now I would be killed outright, I would never be allowed to have control of an army again. Your precious world is safe." He sounded bitter and reserved, again seeming deep in thought. Natasha and Bruce looked at each other, deciding if they might not have broached the subject too early. Tony just looked over at Loki and remembered that he hasn't the only one having difficulty lately. His emotional troubles were minimal compared to the adjustment Loki was being forced through.

Bruce spoke up for the first time, speaking softly and looking directly at Loki. He had decided it was not too early to broach the subject. "And would you be able to subjugate a planet again? Regardless of the consequences, do you still have it in you to enslave that many people?"

Loki looked up at him. "I will do anything necessary to protect myself and those I care about." He said firmly, no doubt in his voice or face. For a moment they were all reminded that he was a god, the steel in his gaze did hold a touch of the inhuman.

"And how many of those are there?" Bruce asked, pushing the subject again. "People you care about?"

"A few." Loki said lightly before frowning slightly and pausing. "Though I believe if made to lead I would feel the emotional strain far more now than I did last time."

"What do you mean?" Tony prompted softly, eager to know more if Loki was sharing. He looked down at the half empty glass in Loki's hand and wondered how the former-god's alcohol tolerance was holding up, as he was being very chatty already.

"I think the Allfather's punishment is working," Loki admitted bitterly, throwing his head back onto the backrest of Tony's ridiculous designer sofa and staring up at the ceiling so he did not have to look at anyone. "I have become more human."

"We've noticed." Tony supplied, trying to prompt him into opening up more. "You have softened up, slightly."

Loki looked to him on the other end of the sofa and smirked. "Oh really? Tell me in what ways have I softened up?" his voice was teasing and light but he was genuinely curious.

"Well you haven't killed anyone at work yet." Tony gave his trademark smirk. "And you'll willingly spend free time with us."

"Speak for yourselves," Bruce replied, "It's only you two he's getting friendly with. For me and everyone else it's the same as ever."

"I have relaxed somewhat," Loki insisted. "I'll willingly spend time in communal areas with you. I just don't see the need for dull and unnecessary small talk, which most of you seem intent on engaging me in."

"Well what do you talk about with Tony and Natasha?" Bruce asked.

"With Tony I'll discuss anything and everything. Mostly science and the differences between it and magic." He glanced over at Tony, who was smiling at him. "And sometimes we'll discuss movies or music and he'll teach me how to uphold Midgardian conversation."

"He's officially taken me on as his life coach." Tony laughed. "Who'd have thought I'd ever be guiding someone?" Everyone laughed a little at that and Tony and Loki smiled at each other. They both felt the tension of the past few days bleeding away somewhat and were reminded of just why they liked spending time together. Loki broke off eye contact and looked back at Bruce.

"And with Natasha I'll discuss war and weaponry mostly. Though a lot of our time is spent training and doesn't involve much personal chit-chat, which I appreciate."

"Well, it is true. But you're even reluctant to spend time with me sometimes, when I try and talk about anything other than training." Natasha smiled. She looked at Tony directly. "Seems like you're rather special."

To everyone else in the room it looked like a light tease but to Tony it was a confirmation of the suspicions she'd planted in his mind the day before – Loki really did feel attracted to him. It was something he was torn between feeling smug and worried about. On one hand his ego had never felt bigger, _a god wanted to sleep with him_. On the other hand he still felt that it was wrong to go for it to try and tap that. Loki was still their reforming enemy and he had a feeling people would be angry with him is he started sleeping with the other side. Especially Fury. Or Thor. Tony hadn't even thought about what the blond god would feel about the attraction to his brother because Thor since he'd been away in Asgard. Tony was suddenly rather worried. Would Thor be okay with it or angrily rip his balls off? He debated with himself internally.

While he had this internal monologue Loki put two and two together and started wondering if Tony was still attracted to him. Since the one night stand he'd convinced himself that the inventor had moved his interest elsewhere but if Natasha's tease had the implication he thought it did it could well be possible that the inventor hadn't moved on. He looked over at Tony thoughtfully, deciding that the move he'd been debating making for over a week could go ahead and happen now. "_Why shouldn't it?"_ his already tipsy mind told him (while his sober fears screamed "_no!"_ from the background).

"Well I guess you are just special." He said teasingly over to Tony, who looked at him suddenly as if through a whole new light. Loki couldn't tell if Tony was drunk yet or not, and therefore whether or not this was the alcohol taking effect. He knew the man had a much larger resistance than him but he'd drunk twice as much as Loki already. They stared at each other challengingly.

Bruce suddenly cleared his throat and everyone turned to look at him. "I think I need to go now." He said lightly, "I have some experiments running I need to check on before I get too drunk." He waved goodbye and exited quickly. Tony and Loki looked confused at each other, each blissfully unaware that this was pre-planned and Natasha had just signalled Bruce to leave. She had told him that she was going to get Loki drunk and use it as an opportunity to interrogate him. Bruce did not know her real motives, which were to demolish the rising sexual tension in the tower once and for all and just get them to hurry up and admit they cared for each other. (This tension really was going to give her grey hairs.)

"You two do seem awfully fond of each other," She said lightly, looking remarkably collected for a woman who was sipping straight vodka.

"Oh don't act like you're underappreciated, I do like you as well." Loki said lightly to Natasha. It was true, he had enjoyed spending time with the superspy over the past few weeks, just not when things tried to get personal (mostly when she tried to talk to him about Tony. He wondered now if his avoidance of the topic was what gave her the hint to his attraction. Too bloody late to realise it now, he thought).

"You like Tony significantly more than you like me." Natasha smirked. "I know you enjoy training with me but he's the one you spend hours talking with." Her smile seemed genuine but Tony knew better.

"What are you trying to demonstrate here Natasha?" he asked lightly. Loki recognised the tone of Tony's voice and mentally scolded himself for drinking and ending up in this vulnerable position. Of _course _Natasha had pre-planned this.

"Only that I think it's endearing to see the two of you so close. You do each other good." She stood to leave, knowing full well that both men were now glowing inside at the implication that they complete the other.

"And what does _that_ imply?" Loki tried asking, sitting up and looking straight at her. Neither man expected her sudden and rather snappy answer.

"What I mean is that the two of you have been dodging round each other for days. For god's sake, hurry up and make out!"

She left smiling to herself at the sight of two dropped jaws.

Tony and Loki both stared at the door she'd left through in a stunned silence, a myriad of thoughts running through their heads. Loki was stunned and thrilled that his opportunity to get laid had finally come (no pun intended) and was now struck with a sudden shyness at the thought of getting into bed with the object of his recent fantasies (no matter how hard he'd tried to repress them). Tony was still struggling to adjust to the realisation that Loki was interested in him, and was now trying to decide how to engineer the conversation into getting the man next to him into bed.

Both of them were too drunk already to fully process the implications of what they were about to do.

"So…" Loki said seductively, reclining back on the sofa and raising one eyebrow at Tony. This was a game he hadn't played in a while and he was rather keen to just get the ball rolling (as it were). "Do you really feel that level of desire towards me or was our resident superspy bluffing?" he eventually asked, looking directly as Tony.

Tony was never knowingly shy, even less so when drunk. He looked Loki straight in the face. "Maybe I do. My question now is, d'you want it in return?"

There was a pause as Loki looked for how to phrase the tumult of emotions churning in the back of his head. In the end his desire won over everything else and he leant forwards, bringing their faces only a few inches apart. "Yes." He said simply, raising one eyebrow.

Tony had a sudden moment of clarity and was momentarily speechless_. I have a sexy god leaning in to kiss me who wants to have sex with me._ He was overwhelmed by reality of the perfect face in front of him that was grinning seductively, vivid green eyes glancing down towards his lips. When his mind recovered he did what he wanted to most, he leant forwards and brought their lips together.

It was a sloppy and messy kiss, all fumbling lips and clashing teeth, but it was heated and intense and somehow just right. After a moment they broke apart to stare into each other's eyes. Loki was completely overwhelmed by the intensity of feeling in his human body, the heat and the burn of desire was so much more intense than he was used to. Tony was used to the lust and just wanted to move things along quickly, wanting to get his hands and mouth all over that lean, perfect, pale body. Both of them saw the desire in the eyes of the other and knew that this was only going to end one way.

"Shall we move this to the bedroom?" Tony suggested, and Loki kissed him again in reply. They rose from the sofa and moved sloppily towards Tony's room. It took a long time to get there as each of them was too busy kissing the other, hands pulling their bodies together as often as possible. As they moved the touches got slowly more intimate, from teasing hands on arms to fingers possessively wrapped around waists and hips. The kisses got deeper and fiercer too, moving from kissing lips to leaving possessive trails down each other's necks. Each of them was too drunk to think clearly and they were moving sloppily, consumed by lust. By the time they got to the bedroom Loki wasted no time in pushing Tony backwards onto the bed. Tony was surprised but didn't have time to object as Loki almost immediately climbed on top of him, leaning down to kiss him into the mattress, hard. Tony made a small noise of surprise then kissed back, bringing his hands up to Loki's slim waist.

In response Loki moved round to kiss his jaw and round his neck, up to his ear which he gave a nibble then down the side of his throat. It was slow but intense and left Tony trying not to make any undignified noises this early on in proceedings. After Loki sucked on his collarbone however he let out a groan and pulled the man up to kiss his lips again. They broke apart and Loki sat back, still straddling Tony's hips. He pulled his shirt off over his head, ruffling his usually perfect hair. Tony's eyes roamed every inch of that toned body as Loki stretched to take it off, watching the smooth muscles move under his skin and deciding that though his powers had been taken away Loki definitely still qualified as having a god's body. Tony then scrambled underneath him to take his own shirt off and immediately Loki descended again, pushing Tony down and picking up where he left off at Tony's collarbone and moving his way down the man's chest. Tony had no idea where this dominant streak was coming from but he liked it, relaxing and letting the man above him have his way.

Loki stopped at the arc reactor. It was the first time he'd seen it and was curious to explore. Tony looked down at him when he felt the former god's attention focus on the metal circle. Loki was staring at it intently, running a single finger lightly around the rim. Loki looked up through dark eyelashes towards Tony staring at him and grinned, then whilst maintaining eye contact lowered his head and softly kissed the centre of the arc reactor.

It was a much more caring touch than either participant had demonstrated so far that evening and both men stopped for a moment, feeling that this was something more emotionally involved than just carnal attraction. Tony pulled Loki back up and kissed him deeply, with more feeling than before. After a moment Loki pulled away and continued kissing his way down Tony's chest, enjoying the way Tony gasped when he reached his nipple. He moved his mouth down his stomach, leaving a very noticeable trail of love-bites, to his trousers, at which point he looked up at Tony and raised one eyebrow.

"Go for it." Tony said through gritted teeth. Loki pulled apart Tony's trousers and indicated for him to lift. Tony did so obligingly and Loki raised his eyebrow as he uncovered a pair of red and gold underpants (_because fuck you, that's why_ was Tony's underwear philosophy). Loki then placed his mouth on the growing bulge in Tony's pants and watched the man above him gasp again and shift his hips.

At this point Tony decided that it was time to take charge and get a taste of Loki before the damn man finished him there and then. He put all his concentration into flipping them over and pulled himself on top of Loki, who simply grinned at him wickedly from the bed. Tony ran his hands over Loki's chest and down towards his tight jeans, fiddling with the button and pulling them right down in one swift movement to find that Loki was wearing no underwear and was in fact already rather pleased to see him.

He looked up at Loki's face to find the man grinning and laughing. Tony reached his hand down and wrapped it around Loki, wiping the smug grin off his face with a gasp and causing Loki to sit up and pull Tony into another searing kiss. They kissed for a while, Tony's hand slowly moving on Loki's member, before Loki reached down and tugged at Tony's underwear, mouthing the word "off". Tony gladly obliged and they both got fully naked, pulling each other in to lock their lips together again.

Tony surrendered then, asking for something he had not experienced in a long time. He reached over to his bedside table, pulled out a small bottle of lube and handed it to Loki, lying back on the bed with Loki kneeling between his legs. Loki was struck by the moment of trust that Tony was giving him. Only a few weeks before he'd attempted to kill the man and yet here he was, offering to completely surrender himself for the sake of shared pleasure. Neither man was anywhere close to virginal and they had both come to understand that sex could be meaningless; but this certainly didn't seem to be. The moment overwhelmed him somewhat and Loki looked up at Tony, doubt crossing his face.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked openly. Tony saw the care in the little furrow between Loki's brow and couldn't think to describe it as anything other than adorable.

"Definitely." Tony replied, his voice clouded think with lust. "It's been a while but I'm ready."

"How long?" asked Loki curiously as he coated his fingers generously.

"My thirtieth birthday, I think." Tony frowned. "Either way I'm good. Get on with it."

Loki bent over Tony and pressed a kiss to his lips just as he pressed a teasing finger to Tony's entrance, swallowing the man's gasps. He pushed his finger in and absorbed the small wanting noises Tony was making with his own mouth, slowly opening him. Meanwhile Tony had one hand wrapped up behind Loki's head to grasp his long hair firmly at the scalp, his other hand reaching down trying to touch Loki. Loki shifted slightly, allowing Tony to wrap his hand around his member and soon they were swallowing each other's gasps.

After a while Tony broke off and looked Loki in the face. "Go for it already."

Loki looked down at him and was overwhelmed again by the level of trust, though at this point he acknowledged how much he needed to be inside. He positioned himself and reached down to kiss Tony one last time, softly and tenderly and with a lovingness that was completely unexpected. He then pushed in slowly, watching Tony groan. He paused inside for a few moments, letting Tony shift a little to accommodate. Tony then started to move his hips and Loki took it as reason to mirror his actions, slowly pulling out and moving back in again.

At first it was quiet and intimate, little groans and touches as the pleasure grew and the desire built. Then the small gasps became small moans as the two men sped up, finding a rhythm that suited both of them and had them speeding up just to find the right level of friction. Loki tried not to move too harshly, still dimly aware of the possibility of hurting his partner, and Tony tried to balance the discomfort at having not been on the receiving end of this in a long time with the **e He pa kisses for ny to wrap his hand around ony to wrap his hand around **desire and pleasure coursing through him.

Eventually pain and discomfort ceased to be an issue, the two of them were so overwhelmed with physical feeling that they gave into carnal pleasure and just moved faster. Tony let out a small cry when Loki hit particularly deep inside him and Loki felt unexpected joy shoot through him at the thought he was pleasuring his partner. He thrust again at the same deep angle, feeling the heat built in his own body and feeling Tony growing tenser beneath him again. Loki sped up, giving in and letting himself career towards climax as the heat built inside him, consuming his entire body. In a moment of care and clarity he reached down and touched Tony, only having to move his hand a few time before Tony spasmed beneath him, crying out Loki's name and spilling over his own stomach. The tightening of Tony's muscles was enough to push Loki over the edge and he came with a cry of his own, his thrust becoming erratic as he emptied himself inside his lover.

He collapsed down on top of Tony, being pulled into a quick but deep kiss before pulling out and collapsing on the bed next to the engineer. His whole body hummed with the afterglow and Loki tried to think about the last time he had intercourse. He honestly could not remember. His body felt blissful though, lying here on the expensive silk sheets, and he let himself truly relax. Next to him Tony was trying to wrap his genius around the phrase _"I had sex with a god"_. He slowly felt the alcohol and orgasm induced fatigue wash over him and his last thought before falling asleep was about how nice it felt to have a long, warm body curl itself against his.


	15. Chapter 15

Loki woke up with his face pressed to a warm being, an arm wrapped round his back. It was extremely cosy and comfortable and he was reluctant to move. It took him roughly a minute to remember what had occurred the night before and exactly who he was curled against, though the details were still rather fuzzy. Had he really been that drunk? Upon realising his eyes flew open and he pulled himself to sitting upright, the arm wrapped around him sliding off his back and falling to curl round his waist.

"Stark!" he ordered. "Get up."

Tony shuffled sleepily, moving from being curled rather protectively round the space Loki had been in to lying on his back. He opened his eyes with a confused "whasgoingon?" before seeing Loki, at which point he sat bolt upright.

"Holy crap. What did we do?" He asked confused, his eyes taking in Loki sitting still rather naked in his bed, his expensive silk sheets pooling round the man's waist.

"I think the answer might be 'each other'". Loki bitterly shot back at him, though truthfully he was feeling relieved that Tony was still as disorientated as he was.

Tony gave a grunt and fell back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling and questioning why he could never remember the fun details the morning after. He reached up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and braced himself for the inevitably awkward "What now?" conversation.

Loki looked down at him and couldn't help smiling at Tony's dishevelled, sleepy look. Once the smile crept onto his face Loki couldn't help the happy feeling creeping into his head. He had to admit his body felt great, he was well rested and there was very little of the tension he'd been feeling for the past week. Maybe this had been a good idea.

Tony's eyes darted to Loki and he propped himself up on his elbows at the sight of Loki's slightly shy smile. "What?" he asked. "That's not the face of regret I was expecting, I'll be honest."

Loki's head tilted to the side questioningly. "And why would I regret my actions? I never usually do." He rolled his head back to stretch out his neck and Tony watched the pale skin move with the muscles underneath. Oh, and there was his ego speaking up again, telling him that this was definitely the right decision to have made. Loki pulled him out of his thoughts.

"If anyone should be regretting this shouldn't it be you? I'm the very enemy you're trying to rehabilitate." Loki said lightly, with a slight yawn. Tony was really relishing how messy Loki looked post- sleep. Or was it because he was human now? Tony couldn't tell.

"Yeah, because you looked really threatening moaning my name." He shot back, trying not to think about the ache in his rear.

Loki gave him an impressive scowl but the blush that crept into his cheeks ruined the effect somewhat. "Either way, what will your fellow Avengers say about this?" Loki said smugly.

"Uh." Tony's face went blank as he considered his teammates reactions. "We could just…. Not tell them?" he suggested. Loki gave a small laugh.

"And how long will that last? You are as aware as I of their powers of observation. And if we plan to do this again, which I definitely hope we do, then it's only going to become more obvious."

"Oh so we're doing this again are we?" Tony questioned, raising one eyebrow.

"If you'd like." The look on Loki's face was teasing but his tone conveyed a genuine seriousness. He was offering to make this a regular occurrence. Neither man thought about the serious implication this would have on their relationship.

Tony swapped the "_fucking hell yes!_" in his head for a more collected reply of "That sounds delightful", before pulling Loki down into a kiss. It was slow and intense and lasted long enough to leave both participants feeling rather light headed.

Tony pulled away and looked into the glowing green eyes before him. "First things first – breakfast."

They pulled their clothes on slowly but surely before making their way into the kitchen, only to find that Loki was right. They'd been sat next to each other at the breakfast bar eating waffles for no more than thirty seconds before Natasha came in and immediately looked at them and grinned, her delightfully mischievous smirk driving both men insane.

"Enjoy yourself last night boys?" she said, before looking into the fridge.

"Last night was a set-up, wasn't it?" Loki asked clearly. She looked at him from over the fridge door.

"I don't know what you mean." She said airily. She then got the ingredients for her pancakes and started cooking, humming away to herself. Tony glared at her back and Loki just smiled to himself.

It wasn't long before Steve and Clint wandered into the room as well. Tony and Loki looked at each other, trying to think of a way to politely excuse themselves before their exploits became common knowledge. It didn't work however, as when Tony got up to put his plate on the side, Steve's powers of observation suddenly decided to kick in.

"Tony whoever she is I want her gone." He said firmly, towering over Tony and looking down at him sternly.

"What?" Tony asked trying to sound innocent, though he knew his cover had been blown.

"Those hickeys on your neck, they're new." Steve said, his eyes narrowing. "You need to stop sneaking girls in it's not professional." He looked up at the ceiling (a habit which usually made Tony laugh), "JARVIS, can you tell me when the woman Tony had over last night left?"

Tony swore _"shit"_ under his breath as JARVIS confirmed "I'm sorry Mr Rogers but Mr Stark had no female visitors last night, and none from outside the tower." Steve's mouth fell open as he tried to fill in the gaps.

Clint spoke up for him. "So Tony has been sleeping with someone here." There was a tense moment as everyone's eyes glanced around. Tony was trying his damn hardest not to look at Loki, who he knew would be smiling. Loki was in fact smirking rather smugly at the confused faces of Steve and Clint. Both Steve and Clint's eyes wandered around before settling on Natasha, who was stifling a laugh because she clearly knew the answer.

"You know?" Clint demanded. "Then who…?" He followed her line of sight to Loki quietly eating his waffles. His eyes narrowed on the man's slightly swollen lips and the mark on his neck half visible behind his black hair. "You!"

Steve rounded on Tony immediately. "Tony how could you, he's our responsibility! We have to take care of him!"

"Tony took pretty good care of him last night." Natasha remarked. Then she frowned. "Actually no, I'd say it was Loki who took pretty good care of Tony." Tony shrugged off the embarrassment by working at the coffee maker but Loki couldn't help laughing at the correct implication, not yet feeling worried about the other's reactions. His free and slightly manic laugh got him a dirty look from Clint and a disappointed gaze from Steve, who then turned to Tony.

"Tony we're supposed to be teaching him moral responsibility," Steve continued, "and it's bad enough you can't set a good example let alone to drag him into your ways."

"I can't believe you managed to talk the bastard into bed." Clint muttered.

"You know everyone's blaming me." Tony pointed out, "But can you not put at least a little of the blame onto the supervillain that-"

"I'm right here you know." Loki said loudly, cutting everyone else off. They all turned to him.

"I'm sorry that Tony tried to-" Steve started, but Loki cut him off.

"Your dear Mr Stark is right you know. I take some of the credit." He began. "Only a fool would believe that I would be forced into this, I chose to bed him of my own free will." He stood up and moved to put his plate in the sink. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to go and shower, I've agreed to do an extra shift at work this afternoon while my manager is sick." He gave them all a beaming smile, gave Tony a wicked wink, and then walked out the room.

Loki left silence behind him. Tony was conflicted between deciding if the reaction he'd gotten from Steve and Clint could have been worse whilst also enjoying the implication of the wink Loki had left him. Steve was mortified by said wink and trying to put into words how morally wrong this whole situation was. Clint was torn between hating Tony for getting so close and personal with the guy who'd _controlled his fucking mind_ and trying to make jokes about it. The silence stayed until Natasha lost it and burst out laughing again. The three men all rounded on her and spoke at once.

"You knew?" said Clint.

"I can't believe you'd allow this!" said Steve.

"You're a bitch, you know that?" said Tony.

She just looked at them all. "It's not my fault I'm the only one here who can see that they both needed to get laid." She winked at Tony. "Just don't let him wrap you round his little finger. I'm happy if the two of you are happy; but we don't need you becoming his bitch."

* * *

Loki was positively beaming by the time he arrived at work. He was humming to himself as he came through the door to the Café. Ellie looked up at him and smiled back.

"Someone's in a good mood." She said. "What happened in the last 48 hours to cheer you up so much?"

Loki dumped his bag into the back room and came back in grinning. "Plans are unfolding Ellie, everything is starting to look up." He planted himself down next to her and she stared at him with wide eyes as it dawned to her that it was to do with her co-worker's mystery love interest.

"So you talked with him then?" She said excitedly, looking delighted that he was so happy. Loki couldn't help but have his happiness fuelled even further by her support.

"We did more than just talk." He winked at her. Her jaw dropped and she tried not to squeal (and failed).

"Am I allowed to ask for details? It would be wrong of me to ask for details wouldn't it?" She babbled.

Loki debated with himself for a moment before mischief won over and he looked her in the eyes and with a straight face just said "I topped."

She squealed again and laughed, before pulling him into a hug. She broke off and smiled at him. "I'm really happy for you." Again he was struck by just how good she was, being happy for him and his success despite herself. When she asked for the hundredth about who it was he was now seeing, he couldn't bring himself to put her down.

"You know I told you he works at Stark Industries?" he admitted. Ellie nodded at her eagerly. "Well, he does a bit more than just work there. It's Tony Stark."

Her face showed no reaction for a minute and she looked at him sceptically. "You're joking, right?"

Loki had anticipated that she might not believe him and sighed, trying to think of a way to prove it. "It's true. He's the one I've been seeing. I've seen the designs for the latest Iron Man suit. Also, why do you think he came in here and offered to replace your coffee machine shortly after I applied? It's not a coincidence."

As he spoke her jaw slowly dropped further and further. When he finished she laughed again. "No, you've got to be kidding me. THE Tony Stark?"

"The one and only."

"But I thought he had a reputation as a ladies man?" She asked.

Loki was about to come up with some sort of smartass reply when the front window of the shop exploded, the force throwing both of them back off their chairs. Loki's mind went into battle mode (a little slower than his Asgardian self would be satisfied with) before he pulled himself up and looked over the bar to see Iron Man himself crouching in the middle of the ruined café, looking straight at him.

"Buckle up Rudolph."


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi. I'm sorry for the break since my last update but it's a long chapter. That makes up for the wait, right? Either way, this story doesn't have too many chapters left. I hope to get it finished before Iron Man 3, which for me is in 18 days. Thank you for your patience and support!**

* * *

An hour after Loki left for work Tony was sat sipping coffee in his living room when a familiar rumble of thunder sounded outside on what had been a clear, sunny day. No one had received any news about when Thor would return but this was a sure fire sign that he was around again. Tony leisurely stood up and made his way to the balcony, shielding his eyes with one hand as Thor appeared in a flash of light.

"Hey big guy, nice to see you-" Tony started to say, but he was cut off by the look on Thor's face. The god was incredibly tense and his imposing stance made it clear immediately that something was wrong.

"Tell me where is Loki, for I much desire to speak with him." Thor demanded. Tony tried to balance the seriousness of the situation with the blatant reference Thor had just unknowingly made. He made a mental note that next time the big guy had some free time they had to have a Middle Earth marathon.

"He's at work." Tony replied. The colour drained from Thor's face as he spoke.

"Call our allies, I need to find him." Thor insisted. He saw Tony's confused look and elaborated. "There is no time my friend. I received news a short while ago in Asgard that the generals of the Chitauri army have discovered that Loki is on Midgard and have sent someone to find and capture him."

"And this is bad right?" Tony said as he pulled his Stark phone out and had Jarvis simultaneously summon the suit to him and call SHIELD. He tried not to panic but was acutely aware of how upset he would be if Loki was harmed. Call him shallow but the sex had been rather good and on a more personal level Loki was very fun to talk to, he was getting rather attached to the former god.

"Yes. The Chitauri hold Loki personally responsible for the deaths of all their soldiers who died in the failed invasion. They seek to punish him, and I doubt their decision will be kind as death."

It was at times like these that Tony appreciated that Thor really did care for his brother, no matter how much of a little shit Loki could be sometimes. The look on the Thunderer's face showed nothing but despair and reflected the twist in Tony's gut at the thought of what Loki might be put through.

"Is Loki in immediate danger?" Tony asked as the latest Iron Man suit flew out of the door behind him, twisting around him and closing him in.

"They are coming for him now." Thor said gravely, too worried to be impressed at the technological marvel that was the Iron Man suit.

"Let's go then." Tony announced, closing the visor and shooting off into the sky towards where Loki worked. _Goddamnit_, he thought_, the man gets himself into mischief even whilst waiting tables._ He dialled up the number to SHIELD as he flew.

"Fury," he said when it opened.

"Speak Stark," said the unmistakable voice of the director on the other line.

"I've had JARVIS message you the conversation I've just had with Thor. I have no idea what's coming but send back up." He cut off the line before Fury could give him any orders as he flew to the street Loki worked on. To his horror two of the fiery creatures that had put him in hospital beforehand were forming in the alley right across from the shop, vivid balls of flame growing into a humanoid shape as he approached. He landed right in front of the café window, crouching and aiming his repulsors at them just as they finished forming.

The flame-figures turned to him and Thor, who had just landed beside Tony. Before Tony could engage in any sort of macho pre-fight talk the figure on the left raised its arm and shot a fireball straight at him, throwing him backwards and through the glass front of the café, which exploded inwards with the impact. He was disorientated and a little jarred but not injured; the suit had been modified after their last visit to better withstand the impact of alien fireballs. It was good to know his adjustments were working. Tony pulled himself to a crouch and peered towards the back of the now ruined café interior, seeing Loki's completely bewildered expression appear over the countertop.

"Buckle-up Rudolph."

* * *

As soon as he heard the tone present in Tony's voice Loki knew that something was serious (as if the ruined shop front wasn't confirmation enough). He stared as Tony moved back outside and he saw Thor throwing Mjolnir at flames on the edge of his sight. He tried to look past the mixed emotions flooding through his system at the reappearance of his brother and the present situation and instead looked down at Ellie, who was sprawled inelegantly on the tiled floor behind the counter, looking up at him with confusion and unmistakable panic as she tried to calm her breathing.

The last thing Loki needed was for her to have a panic attack now. He efficiently pulled her up and ushered her towards the backroom of the café. As she stood up her eyes darted round the ruined shop front and she saw Iron Man himself walking towards something not visible off to the right. Loki saw it as a positive thing that she couldn't see the flame creatures lest she panic even more. She looked up at Loki and he gave her the most soothing-but-in-control look he could muster and ushered her into the back room.

She sat down on a couple of boxes and he crouched down in front of her, looking at eye level. He was desperate to go and see the events occurring outside but he knew logically that as a human the level of help he could offer would be very limited, so he focused on keeping Ellie safe.

"I have no idea what's going on outside," he said to her, keeping his voice comforting but firm, "I need to go and see what's going on. This is my fault and I need to help."

His heart did strange things as he waited for her reaction. Her face twisted, showing flashes of confusion then sympathy and then determination. He knew that look by now.

"No Ellie, this _is_ my fault." He insisted, before she could speak. "I am not who you think I am. Stay here and you'll be safe. There is no need to telephone for help, if Tony and Thor are here the authorities will already be on their way. I will try to keep you safe." Without thinking he pressed a reassuring kiss to her forehead and rose to move to the door. She looked up at him confused and still obviously in shock.

"I'm sorry." He said, before moving out of the door and closing her into the cupboard. He couldn't deny that over recent weeks he'd grown incredibly attached to the cheerful young girl and his vow to protect her had been honest. The thought of Ellie being killed by accident made his stomach curl.

Right now though he had to assess the situation and work out what the hell was going on. He crouched behind the counter and peeked over it to see Thor and Iron Man trying to dissuade one of the fiery creatures from entering the shop, which the creatures were obviously determined to do. He could see SHIELD agents down an adjoining street, crouched behind what looked like a tank with a very large water cannon. They were waiting but not yet moving.

A tumult of emotions flowed through him and Loki fought hard to keep them in control and stay focused. He might be human but centuries of fighting experience told him that losing his cool now could end in his death. Cold dread and hopelessness threatened to drown him as he worked out that these creatures had come for him. There could be no other explanation. He shook his head and focused on the SHIELD agents he could see past the fighting. They were signalling to him. He couldn't quite make out what they were trying to tell him. Were they asking him to move? Stay? Hide? After not being able to work it out for a while he shook his head and took matters into his own hands.

Thor and Tony were obviously keeping the creatures outside busy. Loki knew that they were the same that had come to fight before and he crept forwards to get a closer look. Though he was unable to sense the magical energies they would be emanating without his magic he still thought he may be able to work out something useful about their source from observation. Magical beings all had individual signatures, and sometimes this bled through into appearances. Loki slowly rose and crept at silently as he could towards the wall of the café, crouching down and moving through the haphazard furniture and fallen books lining the wall.

As he got close to what had been the front window of the shop Tony came back into view as he was thrown backwards. Loki flattened himself immediately back against the wall but he felt like his heart had stopped when he looked to his right and saw one of the flame creatures walk out in front of the café into view, only a few feet away. He stayed as still as possible and made as little noise as possible, knowing that if the creature saw him he would not have a fighting chance. While he was stood he looked up and down the creature and took in as much information about it as possible. His stomach curled as he recognised the form of a creature he'd talked about with one of the sorcerers he'd known before his attack on earth. Loki fought the panic flooding his system at the realisation Thanos had sent one of his personal sorcerers to capture him. This meant that Thanos was after him personally and he was swallowed by panic at thoughts of the unspeakable tortures that undoubtedly awaited him if these creatures succeeded in taking him away.

Loki had managed to stay relatively still and silent, but at this realisation he curled one hand into a fist, allowing himself the small physical sign of distress. It passed unnoticed by the creature but unfortunately not by Tony. Iron Man's head snapped round towards him, the movement prompting the creature's eyes to follow. It immediately lost interest in Tony and turned to lumber towards Loki. Everyone could see that Loki was trapped in the café, there was no back exit he could easily escape through. He would never lead the creature into the back anyway, that's where Ellie was and he would not allow her to be hurt.

Tony gave a loud call to Thor and then put a large repulsor blast through the side of the creature's head. It stumbled momentarily and before it could right itself again Tony had landed protectively in front of Loki, with Thor joining him moments later. The two of them crouched in front of the ruined café as Loki stepped behind them, looking between them into the black eyes of the creature he knew had come to take him. Behind it the other creature lumbered forwards to join it's comrade.

Thor stood up to his full height and to give the most commanding and authoritative look he could. It was at times like these that everyone else remembered he was in line to become king of the gods, his impressive and intimidating figure able to make most men run out of fear. He looked the creature straight in the eye. "What do you want?" he demanded.

There was a pause as one of the creature's mouths fell open, and a rasping voice sounded. "We have come for Loki."

The voice was quite deep and slightly mechanical sounding. Loki knew immediately that it was the voice of the person conjuring the creatures; but distorted slightly to hide their identity. He didn't have time to try and think of the sorcerers name though, because Tony stepped closer to him, throwing his arm back in front of Loki protectively.

"You can't have him." Tony declared, possessiveness oozing from his stance and voice. Loki was struck by feeling at the realisation that someone was willing to fight for him, to keep him safe. Loki was usually the one that ended up fighting to defend other people. Recently there had been nobody to save him; he had had to fight his own way out of trouble. It had been a long time since someone else had deemed him worth saving and warm emotion threatened to overwhelm him as he realised that Tony was willing to fight to keep him safe.

The creatures reacted very differently however. The one at the back let out one of the wails it had done so last time they had been on earth, and everyone including Loki covered their ears to block out the noise. Tony was the only person safe from it, the suit's filters blocking it out. The creature at the front stepped forwards and raised one arm, clearly ready to shoot Tony out of the way while everyone else was distracted by the noise. Just as the other creature's wail ended it stared at Tony and declared menacingly "Well then you will have to die."

Loki realised what was going to happen and reacted purely on instinct. He panicked again at the thought of Tony being harmed and adrenaline flooded his veins. He stepped quickly round Tony to stand in front of him and directly in front of the flame creature's hand, blocking the path of any fireballs or other harmful blasts.

"No!" Tony shouted quickly, but Loki signalled with his hand for Tony to be quiet. Beside them Thor gripped Mjolnir and a strange look overcame his features. He stopped watching them and looked up to the sky, watching it intently.

"Don't you dare interrupt Stark." Loki declared, trying to swallow his fear and keep his voice from shaking. "I always knew this was coming. I would rather they took me than see you injured or killed for my sake."

The flame creature grinned, lowering its hand as Loki took a step forwards towards it. His hands were visibly trembling but he kept his face determined. Loki had always feared that they would return for him, the Other's words echoed in his mind: _"We'll make you long for something sweet as pain"._ And yet, he couldn't help but feel now that his past deeds were probably worthy of the harsh consequences. After all, when first captured he'd been excepting torture over this second chance on Earth.

If he let himself be taken it would probably lead to his death, he knew that, but he had foreseen his actions leading him to death for a long time. It was the people he has met here on Earth, Natasha, Ellie and most importantly Tony who had shown him that he was capable of being something better and he was just as shocked as they were at offering himself to let them live. In that moment Loki knew that he had changed inside in a way he previously never would have thought possible.

As the creature grinned, so did Thor. A crack of thunder sounded from above and as the creature stepped forwards to grab at Loki a flash of light appeared, momentarily blinding everyone. A thin column of light, like a concentrated lightning bolt, came crashing down out of the unnatural dark thunder clouds. It struck Loki and everyone around him was thrown backwards.

When Loki returned to consciousness he knew something had changed before he opened his eyes. He felt ALIVE. Magic flowed through his veins, every fibre of his being felt _right _again. He was confused and delighted as he opened his eyes and sat up, moving immediately into a defensive crouch to observe his surroundings. His whole body felt different, he was strong and powerful again. His movements were no longer clumsy, they were assured and confident and fast. Even his sight seemed clearer and he could take in visual information and process it at a far greater speed. He noted immediately that he was back in his armour again, helmet and all. He allowed himself a smile.

Looking around he took in the situation quickly. The fiery creatures were on the wet ground a short distance away, the SHIELD tank having sprayed them with water while they were down. They were writhing somewhat as they clumsily got to their feet, shooting fireballs at the water cannon and agents surrounding it. Off to his right Thor was sitting up again and looking at him with a smile. Loki felt somewhat irked by the pleased look on Thor's face, the thunder god having believed he was reformed. Someone divine must believe him reformed for his power to have returned. Loki started to ponder if he had as he turned to look at Tony.

An unexpected ache shot through his heart at the sight of Tony, who was sprawled not moving in the suit a short distance away. Even though he felt more calm and in control now that he was Asgardian again there was still an irrational fear in his head that Tony had been hurt. He still felt the same emotional attachment to the man he had felt before, much to his own surprise. However, in that moment checking on Tony's physical state would be impractical. He put those feelings aside and went back to assessing the situation. Looking beyond Tony into the café movement caught his eye, and he could see the back cupboard had opened, Ellie's face appearing over the café counter. Again, he was not expecting that the emotional attachment to her would stay, and yet he still felt it, silently urging her to hide again to keep herself safe.

Before he could say it however a wail caught his attention and he spun round again. The fire creatures were on their feet and were starting to advance towards him. Loki flexed his long, thin fingers with a smile, feeling the magic flow through them, and started to work as he advanced. He immediately sensed the magical signatures in the air, confirming his suspicions about the sorcerer he thought Thanos had sent. Thanos had obviously known he was human because now he was Asgardian again and had his magic back the spells woven around the creatures were easy to break.

Firstly he broke through the magical barriers woven around the creatures with a decisive motion. Immediately they hissed at the contact with the wet floor, and Loki signalled across to the SHIELD agents to open the water cannon, whilst at the same time erecting a shield around himself to protect himself from the water. It sprayed the creatures and they howled again, immobilising most people present. Loki cut off the signature of the sound to his ears with a triumphant smirk before stepping forwards again, no longer affected by it. The creatures now resembled burning, molten rock which had hardened in places, magma oozing from cracks. Before they could be restored he cut the magical link between the creatures and the sorcerer controlling them, sending a magical pulse as he cut off the signal which he hoped would knock the sorcerer controlling them unconscious for a few days. With no direction the masses of flame and rock collapsed, leading to two very violent bonfires just sat alight in the middle of the street.

Confident they would do no damage Loki turned and quickly moved over to Tony. He could hear Thor behind him trying to calm the SHIELD agents who were loudly questioning Loki's trustworthiness now he had his power back. He rushed to Tony's side, knelt down and ripped the face plate off his armour with one hand, reaching into the helmet and cupping Tony's cheek as he closed his eyes.

Magic flowed through his hand and he efficiently assessed the extent of the damage. To his immense relief Tony was simply unconscious. He had some pretty nasty bruises dotted around his body from the various falls he'd had and a rather large, slightly bleeding one on the back of his head which had obviously been the injury to knock him out. Loki let the magic flow into Tony to heal his various injuries and couldn't help but let out an honest smile when Tony's eyes fluttered open and he gasped. Tony's eyes focused slowly and confusion covered his face at the sight of Loki above him in full leathers and helmet.

The restored god just let out a wicked grin and with an amused voice said "Hello."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

"So let me get this right… you're a god. From another world."

The three of them were sat in the remains of the café as SHIELD agents cleared up around them. Thor was being debriefed and questioned on his absence and Ellie, Loki and Tony were waiting for their turns with SHIELD. Loki had magically made coffee (which Tony was disappointed by, he wanted to see Loki use the coffee machine with his horns on) and they sat with Ellie as she tried to come to terms with what the fuck was going on. He had taken his armour down a notch and was sat opposite the teenager as she tried to get her head round what was going on.

"More or less." Loki grinned at her. Ellie let out another confused wail and let her head hit the table. They'd been trying to explain Loki's change of appearance and blatant use of magic for the past five minutes but Ellie was struggling to adjust to the heavy new information.

Tony let out a laugh. "Hey, you're taking this remarkably well." He said. Ellie pulled herself back upright and sighed.

"I don't even fucking know any more." She said dryly, clearly giving up on applying sense to the situation. "I'm lost; I might as well just take what you're saying and run with it."

"You think _you_ are lost." Loki commented. His voice did not sound overly hostile but there was bitterness in it, and his face displayed a barely-hidden despair. "I have no idea what faces me now, where I shall live, what I shall do."

Ellie looked up at him, her round eyes going soft with feeling as they so often did when she looked at him. "Where did you live before?" she asked.

"In Asgard, before this hell started." He said. "But they will not take me now, and even if they would I no longer feel comfortable there. Not after what I have been through."

There was a pause as everybody contemplated Loki's words. One thing Loki did enjoy about Ellie being in shock was that it seemed to limit the number of questions she was capable of asking him. That or she was intimidated by his Asgardian self. Loki was surprised to find he felt quite sad at the idea Ellie was not afraid of him. It was understandable to be wary of a man who had just performed magic but he still felt as warmly towards her as he had done beforehand. He wondered now whether he would get an opportunity to ever see Ellie again.

After a moment Tony let out a small noise. "You could always continue to live with us." He suggested quietly. Loki turned sharply to look at him. Being the God of Lies he knew that Tony's statement was genuine and that there was no deceit behind his words. Warmth flooded through him at the implication that Tony still wanted him around, but he couldn't quite bring himself to believe the opportunity offered.

He looked up at Tony and saw sincerity in his eyes. Loki considered the reality of living as he had been for the past few weeks. With his magic back living in the tower would no longer feel like he was trapped. Although he knew there would be issues with trying to settle into a domestic life he realised that this could be a chance to find himself a new home. It was something he did not want to admit that he longed for, not after he had violently left his last home. Surely there must be some sort of catch? He'd never be allowed to live with him peacefully. "And your Avengers would have me?" he commented.

Tony was encouraged by Loki's lack of personal resistance. He had been scared that when Loki regained his powers he would become cold and distant and leave them. More importantly, he was scared that Loki would think himself above Tony and cease spending time with him. But Loki's resistance seemed to be centred on what others may think, not to Tony himself. Tony didn't want to admit it but he had become pretty attached to the man and was quite happy to continue living with him as a God. It would be refreshing to be around someone who could match him mentally and he wasn't going to deny that he'd be happy to take any other perks available living with the rather attractive god.

"It's not about them." He said honestly. "Now your 'punishment' is over they will go back to their day jobs. They only come live in my tower when we're needed on official Avengers business. They might come and go but none of them will stay. It'll just be me there most of the time, and I want you to stay."

Loki looked up at him, his confused emotions showing on his face. Though Loki was back in control of his reactions he found himself not wanting to deceive, and his facial expressions were more honest than they had been in a good few hundred years.

"And it'll be a safe place for you to live." Tony continued. "I mean you can come and go as you want but we know there are people out there after you. I doubt you'll be attacked when you're living with us. Besides, I like having you around. You're witty and interesting and honestly now you're a god again I want to see if the sex is just as good."

The serious and rather heartfelt speech was ruined by Ellie's slightly hysterical giggle at the last statement. Loki gave Tony a wicked grin but his mood sobered up slightly as he contemplated the reality of actually living with Tony.

"But won't they object to the trouble I will inevitably attract? You just said yourself that there are threats out there coming for me, the invasion I led I fear would just be the beginning."

"Wait what?" Ellie cut in. "Invasion? THE New York Invasion? That was you?"

"Yeah it was." Tony replied to her. "His punishment was to live here as human. Seems to have worked pretty quickly, I'm surprised."

"As am I." Loki replied quietly. He returned to pondering Tony's invitation. e

"I would love to live with you on principle." He said first, "But I do not live well in a domestic environment. I am volatile and unstable. Remember that you are asking to live with chaos incarnate."

"You're really that bad?" Ellie said, sounding confused and a little alarmed.

"When you have some spare time go read up on your Norse mythology kid." Tony told her, then paused. "I suppose you'll have a lot of that now. We've kind of ruined your job." he said, gesturing to the ruined café around them.

"Oh god. I have to look for a new job." Ellie lamented. "Because _that's_ going to be easy." She added sarcastically.

"Well you don't HAVE to." Tony commented. "You're still at school anyway right?" he asked, trying to remember what Loki had said about her in the past.

"Yeah but my parents can't afford to put me through college." She explained. "I need savings or I can't afford to go."

There was a slight pause while everyone sipped their coffee before Tony pulled out his trademark 'rich guy' smirk. "You know, money isn't an object for me." He said smugly. "Most of my furniture costs more than a college education. I'm sure I could spare some change."

Ellie look at him in shock. "Are you offering what I think you're offering?" she asked tentatively.

"You helped Loki see the light." Tony said matter of fact. Loki rolled his eyes at the wording but was still smiling. "In my opinion for that you can have whatever you want, a few thousand dollars a year for a college education isn't much for me. I'll fund you a trip to the moon if you want one."

"But I didn't do anything?" she said, her voice cracking slightly at the end with confusion.

Loki looked across at her, reaching a hand out to put on her shoulder. At the contact she looked up into his green eyes, registering that they were much brighter than before. Her face was calm but her body language betraying that she was still slightly intimidated by him.

"I cannot express how much you changed my view on the world." Loki said to her honestly. Tony watched him as he spoke and found that he really did like this new, more honest God of Lies. "You were kind to me when the rest of the world was not. You deserve this."

"Oh, erm, thank you." Ellie blushed, before looking down to play with her hands, a little overwhelmed. Loki looked across at Tony again.

"Are you sure you want me to stay with you?" he asked tentatively, his voice betraying how unsure he was about the whole situation. "I am volatile, you know that. And though you knew me intimately as a human being I am not human any more. I will not be easy to live with."

Tony looked at him over his sunglasses for a while before speaking. "Are you asking if I want you around or are you trying to persuade yourself not to stay around? Bear in mind I'm not the easiest person to live with either. I've told you my decision. What are you afraid of?" he asked Loki.

Loki looked at Tony and uttered the most honest statement he had for weeks. "Because everything I try inevitably fails. I always let my loved ones down and everything always ends in tears, or worse. Usually worse, sometimes death. I do not want to cause you pain, and just be living with you I will make things difficult."

"You've said all this before, but I still want you." Tony replied. He took a sip of his coffee and then sat up straight. "Right. I have a proposal for you. How about we give it a go. One year together; one year living together and being together and all that crap, and then you can make the decision to stay or go."

Up until this point Tony's proposal had been centred more about having a place to live than anything else, and Loki was heartened to hear the confirmation Tony wanted him as more than just a friend. They had never talked about their relationship, about their feelings for each other or what the sex had come to mean. Everything had happened in such a short space of time neither person had had time to think about the reality of a proper relationship. But now, with endless options spread out before him, Loki found himself feeling that the offer Tony was extending was the right one to take.

Loki smiled widely. "You are too kind to me." He murmured, before leaning in and giving Tony a short kiss on the lips. "Yes." He whispered as he pulled away, and Tony's face was triumphant.

"Oh god." Ellie said, drawing their attention back round to her. "You two are adorable."

Loki smiled somewhat and looked down but Tony bellowed out a laugh and looked across at her. "That's the last thing I expected us to be described as." He said, just as a SHIELD agent approached them.

"I need to take this young lady for debriefing." The woman said. "And Loki is required to go and speak to Director Fury now, the car over there is waiting."

Ellie stood cautiously and Tony just gave her a wave. "Just tell them what happened and they'll let you go home." He said reassuringly. Beside him Loki had risen from his seat and moved to stand in front of Ellie, who looked up at him towering above her in his leather. At least he wasn't wearing the helmet.

"Thank you." Loki said to her sincerely, before pulling her in to a hug. She was reluctant at first but relaxed into it easily enough, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing.

"Thank you." She said back to him as she pulled away with a smile. "You were fun to be around. I guess I won't see you again?" she asked quizzically, her smile fading.

"I don't know." Loki answered honestly. "I intend to accept Tony's offer to stay for a year. If everything falls into place I may well remain here in the city. Come and visit Stark Tower in a few weeks and if I'm still there you can see me." He looked over Ellie's shoulder at the impatient SHIELD agent, before bending down to press an affectionate kiss to Ellie's forehead, just as he had done before. "Go with them now, but I hope to see you soon."

"Bye Loki." She smiled, and allowed herself to be led away.

Loki stood and watched after her for a moment, before he felt Tony's presence at his side.

"You're really attached to that kid, aren't you?" the engineer said. It didn't really require a reply, but Loki spoke anyway.

"I guess I am." He mused. "Either way, SHIELD are waiting for me now. I shall have to go and get my inevitable questioning over and done with."

"When you're done I'll be waiting for you." Tony assured him, taking Loki's hand in his momentarily before letting go again.

"Thank you." Loki said, before giving the man a short kiss and moving towards the SHIELD car waiting for him. He was confident Fury would question him on his personality change, Asgardian powers and plans for the future, and he was happy to say now that he had an answer for all three.

* * *

_Thank you for sticking with this. I understand that I have not tied up all of the loose ends, and a short epilogue will follow to try and tie them up. I know that I could explore the relationship between the two characters much further, but I do feel disappointed in this fic. I have been working on it since last august and reading through I can feel my style of writing change and grow. I do not feel as if this whole piece is up to the standard I am capable of now, and so I shall remember it fondly as my first finished story and move on to projects new. And oh boy, do I have some exciting projects lined up._


	18. Epilogue

**Chapter 18**

**One Year Later.**

Tony opened his eyes to JARVIS's reassuring voice, telling him that it was mid-October, the sun was out and that his board meeting with several company investors was in exactly two hours. He lay there for a moment before turning to the side to see two familiar green eyes staring into his.

After a year he still treasured the sleepy, dishevelled look Loki had in the mornings. He had never expected that the God would still be here, he had been convinced that Loki would have left him by now, but he still woke almost every morning to be greeted by the same face. They didn't talk about it, but Tony knew that Loki was still as amazed to be here as he was that Loki had stayed.

Tony reached over and pulled the god into a sleepy kiss. They didn't speak, just enjoying each other in the silence for a few moments. After a minute Loki pulled away and stared into Tony's eyes again. Tony could see the hesitancy in his face and spoke up for him.

"I know the date, JARVIS just told me." Tony said lightly. Loki let out a small smile, still surprised with how easily Tony followed his thoughts. Back when he had been human they had always been able to follow each other's conversations easily but as time went on they only became better at reading each other's thoughts. The pair were now able to have full conversations without saying a word, communicating with slight raised eyebrows or twitches of the jaw. They also made jumps in conversation which no one else could follow but seemed only logical to the two of them.

"Yes, JARVIS informed me too." Loki said. "I had just wondered if you'd remembered."

"Of course I had." Tony said honestly, bringing one hand up to brush along Loki's jaw. Loki could see the hesitancy is Tony's face now, and though to most people the engineer would sound normal he could hear the pain behind his next words. "And now you have a decision to make."

Loki paused for a moment and let Tony's rough hands run lightly over his face. He could see his partner observing, taking in every detail of Loki he could in case Loki's answer was not the one he wanted. He could see Tony desperately trying to memorise his face in case they would have to part. Rationally, both of them knew that there was no real question of Loki leaving now, but Tony couldn't help but panic and worry.

Loki brought his own hand up and closed it around Tony's, stilling his movements. "I don't think it's possible for me to leave you now." He said quietly, before bringing Tony's hand up to his mouth to lightly kissing it, brushing his lips over the fingertips.

They looked at each other and smiled widely before going in for another kiss, this time their lips met much more enthusiastically and with far more feeling. Loki could feel the smile on Tony's face and revelled in it. Just over a year ago he would not have believed it possible that one day he would have someone to hold like this, and yet here he was with the most unlikely partner imaginable and feeling a contentedness very uncharacteristic of his past.

It hadn't been all sunshine and rainbows getting together though. SHIELD had put up a large resistance to Loki's remaining on Earth, Fury was especially suspicious of the short recovery time and sudden declaration of love for a certain Man of Iron. When Loki had revealed in questioning that he had been invited to live with Tony and planned to take the offer Fury had questioned every motive behind the decision, not letting Loki go for hours. Even when he was released SHIELD followed them for months, monitoring every move either of them made outside of what became their home in the tower. It was only after Natasha walked in on the two of them in a rather compromising situation that SHIELD agreed to stand down.

Tony had to deal with his fair share of issues with the press. After the fight at the café the whole world knew that Loki was back and most of the media called for his head on a stick. Fury had leaked some schtick about a rehabilitation programme and said that Loki was being monitored by the Avengers, even though by this point his formal punishment was over. It only took a couple more months for word to get out that Loki and Tony were suspiciously close. While beforehand the media had not taken much notice of who was who in Tony's love life suddenly the whole world was condemning Tony for his choice of partner in a way he had not had to deal with before. He was heckled in public, shunned from high society and even shares in his company went down, even though he wasn't CEO anymore.

Pepper had taken the news to heart a lot more than she let on, but Tony could see right through her, he had always been able to. She continued running the company from Miami, flying back once a fortnight or so for her usual checks on how Tony's latest inventions were coming along and how they could help Stark Industries, and how he was getting on in his part time role in the company. She was not surprised at who Tony had chosen (she always knew he had a taste for the exciting and/or dangerous) but was a little hurt that he moved on so quickly. The hurt healed though, and within 8 months she had started seeing someone else, but wouldn't tell Tony who. He was glad she was happy.

They had received some support however. Thor had been jubilant that his brother had found someone to anchor him, someone with whom he could have an at least semi-stable relationship. Tony had felt a little awkward revealing to Thor that he was regularly fucking his brother, but when the news came out Loki pulled Tony in for a very passionate kiss in full view. Thor had just laughed, and Tony was slightly insulted when Thor confessed that Tony was one of the safest sexual partners Loki had ever had. Thor had only been present for a few weeks however before disappearing back to Asgard, leaving them alone together in the tower.

Ellie had visited after a few weeks, timidly coming up to the penthouse of the tower and sitting on edge of the designer sofa in the grand surroundings. She had been genuinely pleased to see Loki again and to ask after how he was doing, and Loki was surprised to realise he felt the same about her. After a while Loki had passed round the alcohol and found Ellie much more willing to relax and be honest. It made him feel happy to hear her laugh again, and to hear her excitedly ask how his relationship was going the same way she had done before when he had been less intimidating. She also admitted while drunk to still being attracted to him, to which Loki just laughed and made a light joke about being a god. After she had sobered up and recovered from the embarrassment Ellie had begun to relax more around Loki and around Tony, and now she visited quite regularly, becoming quite good friends with both of them.

Thor had delivered the news to Asgard of Loki's recovery and of his decision to stay on Earth. Loki did not show his disappointment at the lack of celebration on Asgard for his recovery. He had been expecting nothing, but hated to admit that it still hurt to receive little support from his former home. Thor returned with news that Frigga was pleased and that he himself was jubilant, but his silence about Odin's reaction revealed it to be as apathetic as Loki expected. Tony had been able to see the hurt on Loki's face and had made sure to reassure him that night of exactly how loved he was here on Earth, both through his words and actions.

Because whenever these challenges became apparent, the god and the man found themselves always able to fall back on each other. After they were shunned or insulted or ignored they returned to their home, showing each other exactly how much they appreciated each other in some very creative physical ways. Every night they climbed into bed together, their doubts, worries and fears soothed as soon as they were with the other. Their kisses and touches and moans each confirming to the other that yes, this was definitely worth it; all of it. Tony had joked about the sex being as good once Loki was a god again but he was wrong: It was far better. They learnt to read each other's bodies' subtlest signals, knowing exactly where to press and what to do to bring out the other to ecstasy.

As partners and lovers they were able to cohabit in the same space easily. Both men were very independent, strong willed personalities and they had their own spaces, Tony his lab and Loki his own space for magical work that had been installed soon after his arrival. When first together they had been rather clingy, eager to spend as much time together as possible, but as time went on they established their own spaces in a far more healthy routine than either man would have originally thought possible. Both the trickster and the billionaire were known for having unstable and hazardous relationships and were both secretly shocked with how well they learnt each other's boundaries, loves and fears.

When they woke each morning and saw the face of the other each was reminded that they'd thought at one point they'd be alone forever, never finding someone with whom they would fit so perfectly, emotionally, physically, intellectually. And now, as they lay kissing in their monstrously large bed, tangled together amongst the expensive silk sheets, each knew that they were here to stay.

* * *

_**Ending this has been quite emotional for me. Thank you x**_


End file.
